Passport: NIS boss orders probe of alleged misconduct of immigration officers

• There were complaints of alleged misconduct against officers of the service in some passport offices across the country
• Especially regarding the noncompliance with ministerial directives on the timeline of passport administration

Caroline Adepoju, Acting Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has directed an investigation into some complaints of alleged misconduct against officers of the service in some passport offices across the country.

This was contained in a statement by the Service Public Relations Officer, Adedotun Aridegbe, on Saturday in Abuja.

Ms Adepoju, who expressed concerns about the situation, directed an immediate investigation into the matter, especially regarding the noncompliance with ministerial directives on the timeline of passport administration.

She said “Following the complete clearance of passport application backlogs nationwide in line with the directive of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, a new timeline of two weeks for processing and issuance of passports was announced by the minister on 4 October.

“The minister and the NIS provided different phone numbers to the general public to report misdemeanours by NIS personnel at any of the NIS offices.

“The service has, on a daily basis, monitored the compliance level at all passport offices nationwide and at our missions abroad.

“We receive daily reports on the production and issuance of passports from all Passport Control Officers.
“As of today, most of our passport offices are producing passports of applicants enrolled on Wednesday, 11 October, ” she said.

Ms Adepoju, however, explained that applications for re-issuance of lost passports and change of data took a longer time.

She added that some applicants in this category might put the service in a bad light when they complained of delay and noncompliance with the new timeline.

“These applications are required to go through security clearance and correspondence with Service Headquarters before approval for production,” she said.

The NIS boss appealed to members of the public to contact the service through its various public communication channels.

This, she said included Twitter, Facebook handles (@nigimmigration) and contact centre on 09121900655, 09121556359 and 09121477092 to report any form of misconduct by any member of the workforce, for appropriate sanctions.