The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Mrs. Kemi Nanna Nandap, has declared that officers involved in procuring Nigerian passports for foreign nationals would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

She said at a three-day workshop organised for Passport Control Officers at the headquarters of the Service in Abuja, that the legal department of the NIS would ensure that those involved are punished.

Our correspondent gathered that Nandap?s disclosure was against the backdrop of multiple cases of non-Nigerians fraudulently obtaining passports for the purposes of criminal activity or illegal migration.

It was learnt that a 2022 House of Representatives probe cited at least 7,000 suspected cases over five years, including criminal networks, that resold passports to human?trafficking rings in Europe and the Gulf.

The matter came up again in March as Interpol flagged 27 fraudulent Nigerian passports seized at European airports.

Investigations later traced the procurement to two enrolment centres in Lagos and Kano.

According to Mrs. Nandap, the NIS legal department is pursuing disciplinary action against such officers.

She said, ?We?ll make sure that we prosecute them. They will not go free, not anymore. It is not acceptable.?

At the workshop with the themed ?Strengthening Identity Management through Innovations in Passport Administration,? the immigration boss said thorough vetting of passport issuance was not only necessary, but mandatory.

She added that those saddled with the responsibility of passport issuance must handle their jobs with utmost integrity, efficiency, and adherence to timelines.

Nandap said the passport, once issued, represents the NIS?s endorsement of the bearer as a bona fide Nigerian citizen.

She warned officers to exercise extreme caution and responsibility before certifying anyone as a citizen.

?The post you hold is very credible because anyone who holds that passport, you are saying that you have certified that person a bona fide, true Nigerian. That is what it means. So before you issue anybody with that passport, make sure that, yes, you are satisfied that this person is a bona fide Nigerian.

?That is what our act says, and that is what you must all do, because we are getting too many incessant issues of non-Nigerians acquiring our passports.

?But I?m grateful, and I?m happy that you?re reporting them to the service headquarters. Please increase your vigilance, because I know a lot of your commands; a lot of passport officers have reported these cases.

?And of course, legal is working on it. We?ll make sure that we prosecute them. They will not go free, not anymore. It is not acceptable.?

She urged the personnel to remain alert and involved in the vetting process, leveraging their professional experience to detect cases of fraudulent identity, using behavioural, linguistic, and physical cues.

She added, ?The world is judging us. If you issue it to non-Nigerians, they will know. So we don?t want our credibility in question. That?s why you must all step up and make sure that every document you issue, every passport, must be to qualified Nigerians.

?Let?s make sure that in issuing this document, we are very, very thorough. Make sure you do your due diligence. Make sure we maintain the integrity of this passport, because that?s the password that takes us all over the world,? Mrs. Nandap said. (The Nation)

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