How Immigration Boss, Isa Idris Apprehended ‘Corrupt’ Officers

Acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Isa Idris apprehended corrupt officers recently after disgusing as a passport applicant.

The Immigration boss in an interview with Premium Times said he Monday, disguised as an applicant for an international passport at the service’s Lagos State Command, Ikoyi, where some officers of the service offered to engage in shady deals with him.

Isa Idris said he decided to walk in unannounced in order to gain firsthand experience of what Nigerians are going through in the hands of "unscrupulous officers of NIS.”

He said his unscheduled visit to Ikoyi was to confirm the allegations against officers of the immigration offices in Lagos State including Ikoyi, Ikeja and FESTAC town.

Isa said when he approached the officers at the Ikoyi command, he was given various high prices for the different categories of passports.

The Acting Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service in mufti with an officer during an unscheduled visit to Lagos Command, Ikoyi on Monday. Photo Source: Premium Times

“When I approached the officers, they offered me the menu without recognising me. They said 32 pages of the international passport for five years would cost me N45,000 instead of N27,000. They said 64 pages for five year would cost me N55,000 instead of N37,000, and N95,000 for 64 pages for 10 years instead of N72,000.

“I was asked where I was from and I said Niger State. They also asked me if I had a letter of indigeneship and other documents and I said I didn’t have anyone. So they said they would collect N3,500 to provide all the documents for me,” he said.

What Next?

Mr Idris said the lesson will help the service to strengthen the passport issuance process, saying having an international passport of a country confers nationality on its holder and so it must have integrity.

“So with what I have experienced firsthand today, it simply means that anybody can come in from anywhere and obtain our passport. This is unacceptable. So I can assure you that the Immigration Service under our watch will strengthen the issuance process and the integrity of the document,” the official said.

Officers caught

He said the officers caught in the act during his unscheduled visit have been documented and that they would be disciplined accordingly.

“The laws are there, and so they will be made to face the law. There are about three of them but we are very sure that it is an organised crime. They are not alone but further investigations would reveal that,” he said.

The acting comptroller-general said the interior minister is working hard towards achieving his mandate of securing the nation’s border lines through the agencies under him including the immigration service and that the difficulties being experienced by Nigerians in procuring passports would soon become a thing of the past.