Interior minister, NIS CG order probe into ‘passport racketeering’ in Southeast.

Interior minister, NIS CG order probe into ‘passport racketeering’ in Southeast.

The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI), Mrs. Caroline Wuraola Adepoju, have ordered investigation into alleged racketeering of international passports by personnel of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) commands in Abia, Enugu, Imo and other states in the Southeast.

The minister and the NIS boss said while efforts were being made to track perpetrators of the illegal act, the Federal Government would activate appropriate disciplinary measures to ensure those involved were severely sanctioned.

NIS National Service Public Relations Officer Adedotun Aridegbe, who stated this at the weekend, said the agency was doing its best to ensure that Nigerians go through the technologically powered windows to acquire their travel documents without hassles or extortion by the personnel assigned to drive the process.

The NIS spokesman said the standard operating procedures for registration, payment, and processing of international passport as well as timelines for issuance had been laid out to intending holders at online windows disseminated to the public.

To avoid playing into the antics of third party agents or personnel involved in sharp practices, the spokesman said Mrs. Adepoju had urged Nigerians to apply for their international passports six months before the date of expiration.

Offering clarification on the development at the weekend in Lagos, Mrs. Adepoju said: ”I can tell you, barring all technical problems, you should be able to completely apply for your passport, and within three weeks, you should be able to get it.”

The NIS boss said it was important for every applicant to register with the same records they had with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as their national identity numbers would be linked to their passports.

Some reports had said Passport Control Officers of the NIS in some Southeastern states were accused of charging extra fees, in addition to the official fees, for obtaining international passports.

The reports indicated that hundreds of applicants for passports were made to either pay more or get delayed for several months before they would get their passports, if they chose to follow the normal process of applying online.

In Abia State, for instance, applicants alleged that after applying for the passport, they were pressured to pay N13,000 before an applicant was allowed to go for data capturing.

It was learnt that after the capturing, an applicant would be told to pay additional N20,000, if he wanted his passport to be processed faster, thus making it N33,000, besides the official payment of N25,000, including bank charges of N2,000, totaling N60,000 for the five-year passport.

In Owerri, the Imo State capital, it was gathered that applicants were made to pay about N70,000 for a five-year passport, of 32 pages, while about N150,000 was charged for the 64-page 10 years passport.

In Enugu, it was learnt that applicants were made to pay more than the official cost for the passport of N60,000; sometimes less.

But in Ebonyi, the officials allegedly requested for up to N115,000 for a 10-year passport and N55,000 to N60,000 for a five-year passport and up to N150,000 for “express service”.