NIS begins inquiry to passport racketeering in South East

In response to claims of illicit dealings in passport issuance within the south-eastern offices, The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service’s (NIS), Wuraola Adepoju has initiated an inquiry.

The NIS’s spokesperson, Adetoun Aridegbe, announced the investigation in a statement.

The probe follows a report accusing regional control officers of demanding unauthorized fees on top of the standard charges for international passports.

Aridegbe said any officer found culpable would be dealt with as the service would not tolerate any form of misconduct or improper behaviour.

“The attention of the NIS has been drawn to a report of allegations of misconduct against the personnel of the service over passport racketeering,” Aridegbe said.

“As part of efforts to rid the agency of these bad eggs, an order for immediate probe into the allegations has commenced and anyone found guilty will be sanctioned.

“The CG and the minister of interior has given a directive for the investigation of the allegations and that is what we are doing.”

Aridegbe noted that the guidelines for application for international passport were clearly stated on the NIS website.

“We also sent out our customer feedback number: 08028320751 (SPRO), 08067761196 (SA – SERVICOM), and we are not only ready to answer your calls but resolve issues,” he added.

“The problem is that Nigerians like to look for shortcut and so they fall into the hands of people who fleece them.

“They prefer to do things through the backdoor. Nigerians need to know that every office opened by the NIS has a duty to serve them.”

Aridegbe urged prospective applicants to visit the NIS official website at immigration.gov.ng to apply for passports.

He also urged them to make payments for their preferred passport categories and avoid patronising individuals or entities that request cash payments for passport services.