January 11, (THEWILL) – At least 2,560 passports have been abandoned by applicants at the Calabar Office of the Nigeria Immigration Office.
This was disclosed by Christopher Baikie, the head of the Cross River State office of the NIS.
Baikie who is the 24th CIS also disclosed that the command repatriated a Cameroonian illegal immigrant last year.
He elaborated that they are not being very tough on immigrants, going by the rules guiding their operations.
Baikie said he has hosted hoteliers, companies and such groups to emphasise need for their immigrant clients to regularise their stay in the country, adding that they synergise with sister security agencies
Giving more details about the abandoned passports, Passport Control Officer of the NIS Calabar, Mrs Clementina Ogbundu said the avalanche of passports dates back to 2019.
“We have 2,560 international passports uncollected in our Calabar office.
“Applicants will pay for it, go through all the processes but when the passports are ready for collection, they will not come back again for collection”, she said.
She said new applicants were still coming up to book for new passports
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
