Nigerian Immigration Service prosecutes up to 80 of its men over passport extorting racket

ABOUT 80 officers and men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) have gone on trial for indulging in the collection of illegal fees from members of the public for the issuance of new passports and renewal of old ones on a crackdown on fraud in the agency.

For years, the NIS has been bedevilled with corruption, which has affected the operation of a smooth and efficient passport issuance system. In a bid to clean up the system and end the menace, the NIS has instituted a probe into its operations, leading to arrests, dismissals and prosecutions.

NIS spokesman Mr Tony Akuneme, said that eight officers have been dismissed from service for the same offence over the last one year. He added that the disciplinary measures under the passport reform, was part of the three-point agenda of the present comptroller-general Isah Jere, when he came on board.

Also, Mr Akuneme said that the comptroller-general's three-point agenda includes reform of passport issuance, tightening border security and improving the welfare of NIS officers. According to him, Mr Jere has done this to the best of his ability in the last one year plus and that is what has led to most applicants booking passport applications and renewals online.

Mr Akuneme said: “We have tried as much as possible to eliminate third parties so that if you really want, you can process the application of your passport from the comfort of your room on your laptop, android phones and you can pay online. You don’t really need anybody whether immigration officers or agents which we usually call touts. They have upgraded and become agents. They are still third parties.

“The problem we have is the use of third parties because no matter how much reform you put in, you will always see a learned and civilised person using a third party to process his or her application. One thing they don’t understand is that third parties don’t have an idea of the information entered into your application."

He added that Mr Jere has vowed to discipline officers who go out of their way to try to either engage or sabotage the reform process. According to Mr Akuneme, the NIS will continue  to punish officers and men who try to assist people for a fee, pointing out that they can assist people genuinely without extorting them.

Mr Akuneme said: “We are committed to curbing corruption and other illicit acts in the service. You will appreciate the fact that if nothing else, the level of awareness has increased in the last few months.

“Don’t patronise agents, fill your forms yourself. We have officers watching and these agents know they are being watched. When they take money from you, tell us. If we don’t take action, tell the world."