BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
THE Nigeria High Commission in
London has warned citizens based in the United Kingdom against patronizing touts and other unofficial agents.
The High Commission gave the warning in a statement titled, ‘Important message to Nigerians in the United Kingdom on applications for issuance of Nigerian passport’ dated 21st May, 2021, made available to journalists on Thursday in reaction to allegations of corruption by Nigerians in the UK.
The statement indicated that the High Commission in London had reviewed its operations in the interest of the Diasporas.
It read in part, “Upon assumption of duties, the High Commissioner, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, held strategic meetings to brainstorm on the best way to address the incessant allegations of corruption and other negative reports on the
issuance of the Nigerian passport in London as well as to restore the Mission’s credibility.
“Following the strategic meetings on Wednesday, 19th May 2021, the
High Commission was able to identify and break the gang of passport
racketeers in London. The Mission also discovered that 18 innocent Nigerians
paid between £200 and £350 to racketeers in their desire to urgently acquire or renew Nigerian Passports. Unfortunately, the racketeers issued them with forged documents with a promise to assist the applicants through a ‘non existent Abuja list’ in the Mission.
“The Mission sympathises with the past
victims, whilst admonishing our fellow country men and women to always
avail themselves with official channels in the Mission for assistance on
compassionate grounds and desist from patronizing unofficial agents/touts.”
It further stated, “As of 31st March, 2021, there was a backlog of 18,000 applications awaiting processing, which were accumulated between December 2019 to March 2021. Officers and staff of the Immigration Section, worked tirelessly to run a crash programme to
reduce the backlog.
“Currently, the Mission has issued a total of 8,852
passports out of 9,964 passports that were captured from the backlog.”
The High Commission indicated that there had been a surge in passports applications between April 2021 and now, adding that the Mission had cleared a backlog of applications up to August 2020.
“However, any applicant yet to be captured within the period under reference can come to the Mission with proof of payment while applicants whose dates of payment fall after August 2020, should await Mission’s letters of invitation,” it said.
The statement further read, “The Mission appeals to applicants to be
patient, as it endeavours to deliver on its mandate to all Nigerians in the UK.
“The Mission has reviewed its activities and acknowledges the need to attend to Nigerians who have urgent reasons to
renew their passports. The Mission would resume the fast-track services in line with global best practices.”
To curb touting and racketeering, it stated that the Mission would embark on continuous processing of applications and dates of appointments in line with the current practice; place administrative charge of £20 on all passport processing and resume the £100 Fast Track service with effect from Monday, 24th May 2021 with payment made in postal orders, addressed to the Nigeria High Commission, London.
It read, “We shall continue to adopt extra vigilance to discover and eliminate
corrupt actions associated with passport application and processing in
the Mission. Future reports of corrupt practices must be fact based with evidence and devoid of frivolous innuendos and allegations. This will assist the Mission in this onerous task of anti-corruption drive.
“Mission will continue to investigate possible in-house collaborators for
appropriate disciplinary action.”
Recall that the Mission commenced the processing of passport application on 13th April 2021, following the lifting of the lockdown restrictions by the British Government.
