…Urges President to revert passport policy, prioritize foreign mission personnel allowances to prevent espionage
The Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) has called on President Bola Tinubu to as a matter of urgency intervene in the several reported issues about the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) which is inimical to the service, affect its operations and put the country at security risk.
Speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos the Plateau State capital, the Director of the organization, Steve Aluko, said it has become worrisome that an important outfit like the immigration should be going through such, adding that if nothing is urgently done to remedy the situation it could lead to the collapse of the immigration service.
Among the issues, Aluko said, is that of the latest passport policy by the minister of interior which there are grumblings in many quarters about the security concerns, as when the policy is effected it would centralize passport processes with single production center in the immigration headquarters Abuja for the whole country and abroad, application and reissuance of passport even without the applicant coming to the processing center, among others.
Another, he said, is the issue of the immigration personnel on foreign mission which their allowances are owed for months now, as well as other poor working conditions which have been in the news lately, upon which the personnel have to send back their families to Nigeria from the different countries abroad, because they can’t take care of them there.
According to him, this situation should be unheard of because the immigration personnel are supposed to represent and portray the image of Nigeria, and whatever their lifestyle or living conditions are, it would depict and define the nation.
Also, the Director stressed that such condition of the foreign mission personnel is risky and it should be tackled immediately so that it doesn’t push the personnel to engage in act of espionage or anything that would threaten the security of the nation, since the personnel are not often allowed to engage in any other businesses or in activities that can fetch them extra income.
He therefore called on President Bola Tinubu to wade into this and more of the other issues about the immigration that have for a while now been in the news.
He pointed out that the service is a critical and important sector linked to Nigeria’s economy, security and general well-being since they deal with people that come in and go out of the country.
“The passport policy need to be decentralized so that it can solve the interest and propose of serving Nigerians living abroad. And with the current immigration policy of American President, Donald Trump, which other Western countries are likely to follow suit, it is going to hang the faith of our people living abroad in the balance. So, it is very important to strengthen our immigration on foreign missions so that they can address the challenges of our people living out there.
“In that respect, the lack of adequate warfare or timely welfare policy and programmes for the immigration personnel on foreign mission is not proper. This is also endangering our embassies abroad, and can affect the diplomatic benefits that our foreign missions need to enjoy.
“You cannot send somebody to represent you in another country and you don’t take proper care of their welfare because that will expose them to espionage where they can become spies for other countries.
“And if you look at the code of conduct and ethics of such outfit, the personnel are limited to performing some economic activities. So, if they are limited to performing such economic activities and you are not providing for them to live and function well, then you are exposing them to corruption, criminal activities and other things that will be unhealthy for the country.
“Beyond that, our civil service law provides that people should have minimum benchmark of programmes and welfare that will enhance their capacity to function well. Therefore, it will be a distraction for the immigration officers if their welfare is not properly taken care of. And again, how can they effectively represent that country at international level in such condition?
“It runs contrary to the whole essence of having a foreign mission who ought to adequately represent the interest of Nigerians abroad and the image of the country at home,” he said.