Minister of Interior , Olubunmi Tunji- Ojo and the Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI), Caroline Wuraola Adepoju have ordered an investigation into the alleged racketeering of Nigerian passports by personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Commands in Abia, Enugu , Imo and other States in the South East Region.
The Minister and the NIS Comptroller General says while efforts are on -going to track perpetrators of the illegal and unpatriotic acts, the Federal Government will activate appropriate disciplinary measures to ensure those involved are severely sanctioned.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Adedotun Aridegbe , who disclosed this at the weekend said the border control and management agency is doing its best to ensure Nigerians go through the technologically powered windows to acquire their travel documents without hassles or extortion by personnel who are driving the process.
He says the standard operating procedures for registration , payment and processing of Nigerian passport as well as timelines for issuance have been laid out to intending holders at online windows announced to the public.
While emphasizing that applicants of passports should desist from engaging third party vendors or persons to procure the document, he said it was against the regulation for any personnel of the NIS to attempt to extort Nigerians desirous of acquiring the travel document.
He disclosed that to avoid playing into the antics of third party agents or personnel involved in sharp practices, the CGI of the Service has urged Nigerians to apply for their passports six months before the date of expiration.
He added that this will also help to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the system.
The NIS Spokesman said the agency is doing its best to ensure it keeps faith with the timelines given for fresh issuance and renewal of international passports as the Minister of Interior consolidates on- going efforts to ensure that the thousands of passport backlogs have been cleared.
According to Mr Aridegbe, to avoid any infractions in the passports issuance procedures , the Service is recalibrating its mechanism to avoid contact with persons, as it has ramped up it’s technology to ensure that the only reason applicants will visit its offices is carry out fingerprints biometric capture.
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