Nigerians living in Sevilla, Spain, are groaning over their inability to renew their international passports.

Scores of them have applied for the renewal of the travel document since last July.

The President of Nigeria Association in Sevilla, Fabian Uchenna Okolie, said over 1,000 Nigerians were involved.

“Normally, every year, Immigration officials from Nigeria embassy in Madrid move around Spain for passport intervention. On July 21, 2023, they came to carry out passport intervention in Sevilla. Since then, we have been waiting; the passports have not been issued.

“You know a passport is the most important document for anyone in a foreign land because without a passport, there is nothing you can do here.

“For example, there are people that have applied for the renewal of their documents and, if they call you, you cannot go without your Nigerian passport. Even those who have applied before the passport expired cannot go for fingerprinting. We have all been stagnant.

“When you call the embassy, they will tell you they are still waiting for the approval from Abuja to print the passports. I don’t know why the approval has not been given for them to print after an intervention for which we have paid over $100 each. This is a process that should not take more than a month, normally…”

When contacted on the matter, President of Federation of Nigerian Citizens in Spain, Johnbosco Okeke, confirmed the development and blamed it on the Immigration Service.

Efforts to get an official response from the Head of the Immigration at the Nigerian Embassy in Spain, Nnenna Onyeabor, were unsuccessful.

Also, efforts to get Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo to react to this development through his Special Assistant on Media, Femi Salako, or through the ministry’s Director of Media, Ozohia Imohimi, were unsuccessful last night. (The Nation)

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