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Adetoun Aridegbe, NIS public relations officer, disclosed
this in a statement on Saturday.
A recent report had alleged that control officers in the
region were charging extra fees in addition to the official fees for obtaining
international passports.
Aridegbe said any officer found culpable would be dealt with
as the service would not tolerate any form of misconduct or improper behaviour.
“The attention of the NIS has been drawn to a report of
allegations of misconduct against the personnel of the service over passport
racketeering,” Aridegbe said.
“As part of efforts to rid the agency of these bad eggs, an
order for immediate probe into the allegations has commenced and anyone found
guilty will be sanctioned.
“The CG and the minister of interior has given a directive
for the investigation of the allegations and that is what we are doing.”
Aridegbe noted that the guidelines for application for
international passport were clearly stated on the NIS website.
“We also sent out our customer feedback number: 08028320751
(SPRO), 08067761196 (SA – SERVICOM), and we are not only ready to answer your
calls but resolve issues,” he added.
“The problem is that Nigerians like to look for shortcut and
so they fall into the hands of people who fleece them.
“They prefer to do things through the backdoor. Nigerians
need to know that every office opened by the NIS has a duty to serve them.”
Aridegbe urged prospective applicants to visit the NIS
official website at immigration.gov.ng to apply for passports.
He also urged them to make payments for their preferred
passport categories and avoid patronising individuals or entities that request
cash payments for passport services.