140,000 International Passports Still Not Collected-  Nigeria Immigration

140,000 International Passports Still Not Collected-  Nigeria Immigration

On Tuesday, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) reported that approximately 140,000 international passports have still not been picked up nationwide.

When he paid an official visit to the Alausa Passport office in Ikeja, Lagos state, the service’s spokesperson, Deputy Comptroller of Immigration Service (DCI) Mr. Tony Akuneme, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Akuneme added that of the entire 140,000, around 40,000 are in the Alausa Passport office.

The bulk of the uncollected passports, according to the service spokeswoman, had incorrect phone numbers and untraceable addresses.

Akuneme pleaded with applicants to complete their international passports on their own, with the proper information, and without enlisting the help of racketeers.

He noted that it was the wrong perception, to say that getting a fresh or renewing international passport was very difficult.

“In spite of the extensive awareness embarked on by NIS on a passport application and its processes, some Nigerians still patronise racketeers or consultants to process their passports, which usually does not work out well.

” Some applicants are gullible, they fell into the hands of touts who duped them of their hard-earned money,” Akuneme said.

He pleaded with Nigerians to visit https://passport.immigration.gov.ng/application, to process their passports themselves.

“:I still want to emphatically plead with passport seekers not to use consultants, racketeers, or masqueraders while processing their international passports.

”Most of the contact numbers inputted by these unethical human beings are not real,” he said.

He pleaded with applicants who had applied prior to July 2022 but had not been successful in getting their passports to go to the NIS website and file a complaint.