Some unscrupulous elements within Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) who are bent on sabotaging laid down processes to make the procurement of Nigerian passport a seamless exercise, have been caught in their acts in Lagos State.
The black sheep within the system were arrested personally the Acting Comptroller General of Immigration Services, (Ag.CGI) Isah Jere Idris during an impromptu visit he made to some formations of the Nigeria Immigration Service ( NIS) in Lagos on Monday.
Idris who had arrived the Alausa Passport Office Ikeja at about 1100 hours without the knowledge of any of the officials of the service, presented himself as a potential passport applicant.
He moved round the premises unnoticed, and was attended to by some personnel. He also met with some touts within and around the premises who made entreaties to assist him to procure passport.
Both the touts and some of the personnel who offered to assist him gave exorbitant fees far beyond the official rates.
The Acting Immigration boss played along with them and got the assurance of some them who affirmed their readiness to ‘assist’ him procure the Passport within reasonable time provided he met their charges.
Determined to have a good understanding of the extent of touting in the area, he opted to follow one of the touts to her business centre located not far away from the office. While there, the tout produced all manner of forms and requested the acting CGI to complete same so that the process could begin. He completed some and was thereafter asked to transfer the sum for the charges given him to an account number supplied by the tout if he could not make cash payment.
Satisfied with his findings at the Alausa Office, he proceeded to the Ikoyi Passport Centre where he had similar experience.
He afterwards left the premises unnoticed and proceeded to the Office of the Lagos State Command Comptroller, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi.
Speaking at the command headquarters, the acting CGI noted that the visit was very insightful.
“It has enabled me to assess the quality of service delivery at the Centres especially against the backdrop of some public complaints about poor service delivery in some Passport Office locations. We shall use this experience to deepen our reforms very urgently. I have seen some gaps that must be quickly addressed. I think that the Passport appointment system we are about to introduce will take care of some of the gaps while a huge emphasis on consequence management shall be vigorously pursued” he noted.
He vowed that none of the Personnel found to have acted below expectation during the visit shall go unpunished assuring that appropriate sanctions shall be applied. It would be recalled that upon assumption of Office as the acting Comptroller General, Isah Jere Idris has promised to deepen Passport reform efforts, improve Border Security efforts as well as emplace measures for enhanced staff welfare.
