The Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Amb. Lot Egopija said a team of passport racketeers has been arrested.

The envoy assured Nigerians in the United States that he will remove all encumbrances on accessing passports at the consulate.

Egopija spoke when he received the Executive Members of Egbe Omo Yoruba of Greater New York in his office, NAN reports.

The C-G advised Nigerians against giving incentives to anybody before accessing any services in the consulate.

“Only yesterday, when we started this new way of thinking (new approach to consular issues), we apprehended a racketeering team; this team is based in Baltimore (Maryland),” he said.

Egopija said since Baltimore is not within the consulate’s jurisdiction, the racketeers do processing there and then link up with someone in the consulate.

He said such persons and the staff that was compromised have been arrested.

The Nigerian consulate in New York renders consular services to 20 states in the U.S.

They are: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Ohio, Indiana, Connecticut, Illinois, Rhode Island, Iowa.

Others are New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Winconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Minnesota.

The consulate in Atlanta renders consular services to 20 other states, while the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, DC., covers 10 states.

The mission in New York now renders consular services to Nigerians from Atlanta and Washington, DC., jurisdictions. (NAN)

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