Check a membership number
Anyone may check whether a membership number belongs to the Vigilante Group of Nigeria. You need the number and the surname on the card.
A valid number is not a power
Confirming that someone is a member tells you who they are. It does not give them authority over you. No member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria may search you or your property, arrest or detain you, enter your home, seize anything, or demand money, goods or a “fine” — whatever their card says and whatever rank they claim.
Members work in support of the Nigeria Police Force. Powers of arrest, search and seizure belong to the Police. If a member tells you otherwise, they are exceeding their authority and the Group wants to hear about it.
If someone cannot produce a card
They are not a member. No genuine member operates without identification. Do not comply with instructions, do not hand over money or property, and report the incident. If you feel threatened, call the Police on 112.
If the number does not verify
Check for a typing error first — the number has seven digits in the middle and three at the end. If it still does not verify, the card is not one of ours, or it has been withdrawn. Treat the holder as you would any stranger, and tell us.
A newly registered member may not appear immediately. A membership number is issued
only after the National Headquarters and the State Command have both verified the
registration, so someone registered this week may hold only a
provisional slip, which is not a membership number and confers
nothing. Provisional references begin with PROV/ and cannot be checked
here.
What this check returns, and what it does not
It confirms three things only: that the number is on the register, which command issued it, and whether it is currently valid.
It returns no photograph, address, telephone number, posting or any other personal detail. Members of the Group are known in their communities and some of them make enemies by doing this work; a register that answered questions about where a member lives would put them in danger. Withholding it is also what the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 requires of us.
The surname is required for the same reason. It is checked against a stored fingerprint of the name rather than the name itself, so the register cannot be read out by trying numbers one after another.
Checking a number is not a complaint and is not recorded against the member. To make a complaint, use the report form.
Something is wrong with a member’s conduct?
Complaints are read by the Provost Marshal at the National Headquarters. The member complained about never sees the complaint.