The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has dismissed eight members of its staff in the last one year. They were reportedly sacked for illegally collecting fees for the renewal of old passports and the issuance of new ones.
The spokesperson of the immigration service, Tony Akuneme while addressing newsmen on Sunday May 14 in Abuja disclosed that the service is currently trying 80 more workers of the service for the same offence.
He described the punitive measures as part of the three point agenda of the current Comptroller General of the service, Isah Jere.
The three point agenda of the NIS boss as enumerated by the service’s spokesperson were improvement on the welfare of workers of the service, reformation of passport issuance and the tightening of border security.
He said, “We have tried as much as possible to eliminate third parties so that if you really want, you can process the application of your passport from the comfort of your room on your laptop, android phone, and you can pay online.
“You don’t really need anybody, whether immigration officers or agents, which we usually call touts. They have upgraded and become agents. They are still third parties.
“The problem we have is the use of third parties because no matter how much reform you put in, you will always see a learned and civilised person using a third party to process their application.
“And one thing they don’t understand is that third parties don’t have an idea of the information entered into your application. This can result in somebody having issues with his/her National Identification Number (NIN).
“We have continued to punish NIS officer and men who try to assist people for a fee. You can assist people genuinely but not extort from them.
“We are committed to curbing corruption and other illicit acts in the service. You will appreciate the fact that, if nothing else, the level of awareness has increased in the last few months.
“Don’t patronise agents; fill your forms yourself. We have officers watching, and these agents know they are being watched. When they take money from you, tell us. If we don’t take action, tell the world.”
