Immigration says 14,000 passports, blames use of third party agents
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
More than 140,000 passports are lying unclaimed in passport offices from North to South, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has disclosed, puncturing the complaint of applicants about slow issuance of the travel document.
NIS Comptroller General Isah Jere expressed concern that applicants who have been blaming the service for not issuing their passports are now failing to collect them.
He cited a lack of contact detail and the use of third party agents to apply for passports as the major reasons for the unclaimed passports.
He said the NIS has embarked on an enlightenment campaign to sensitise Nigerians to stop the use of third party agents to obtain passports.
Jere, who spoke through NIS Assistant Comptroller General (Migration Directorate), Abdullahi Usman, said it is difficult to reach the owners of the 140,000 passports due to wrong or incomplete information supplied by third party agents.
Usman represented him during a fact-finding visit to Alausa Passport Office and Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, where urged applicants who have lost their slips or forgotten their appointment dates to pick up their passports from where they applied.
“There are a lot of uncollected passports in all the passport offices and we have about 100,000 passports unclaimed, and apart from that we still have about 40,000 passports produced recently, unclaimed,” Jere said.
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Use of third party agents, incomplete contact information
“This thing is causing us worry because once you’ve done your own bit and people have not collected it, it causes worry and it’s based on this that we are not there yet,” Jere added, per reporting by The Nation.
“That is why the CGI set up the committee to make sure the unclaimed passports are clearly given to the owners. And again, we came into the field and were able to understand why some were not claimed.
“What are the reasons why we have done the passports and collection has not happened? Before, production was the issue due to various factors but now, it is no longer an issue, collection has become the issue now.
“The reason why passports are not collected is due to unreliable data.
“The addresses are incomplete, phone numbers and emails which are quick to reach are usually not correct and so communication cannot take place with the applicant hence no feedback.
“This is because the third party uses his or her own phone number and email address and so we cannot communicate with the applicant directly to tell them their passports are ready.”