How Lagos Immigration Officials Took N15,000 From Passport Applicant to ‘Fast-Track’ Process

NIS staff at the Alausa office in Lagos are accused of extorting N15,000 from a resident to expedite his passport application after allegedly misplacing his file.

Orhiabor Rosemary and Taiwo Olusegun Olatunj, two staff members of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) office in Alausa, Lagos, have connived to extort money from Azeez Ayomide, a Lagos resident, to “fast-track” his passport application and collection.

In March, Ayomide commenced his passport application through a third-party agent he was introduced to by his brother. Although it costs about N35,000 to apply for a Nigerian passport, Ayomide paid this agent N65,000.

He told FIJ that this agent gave him a form to fill out and assisted him in registering online, which is the first stage Nigerians applying for passports usually go through. After he had done this, Ayomide got a date to visit the NIS office in Alausa for the second stage of the passport application process – biometric registration.

Ayomide visited the office on the said date. He did his biometric registration without any hassle. Upon the completion of the biometric capture, he was told to come back on June 19 to get his international passport.

He told FIJ that he could not get his passport when he visited the office on June 19 because an NIS staff member told him his file was missing.

“I hoped to get my passport when I arrived, but the reverse was the case,” Ayomide told FIJ.

“When I got there, they were calling names of people and giving them their passports. But when it got to my turn, they told me that my passport had AA. I have no idea what that meant. They also told me that my file had been misplaced and I should call the person who helped me register online.”

Ayomide called the agent, who spoke to his acquaintance at the NIS office in Alausa. The acquaintance then told Ayomide to return at a later date.

Ayomide added that he went to the office on four different occasions but was told to return the following week each time.

“The last time I went there was on Monday, last week, and I went with the person who helped me with the application process. The staff member who attended to me there told me that she would take her time to search for my file. Later, she said she would regenerate my file, which she did,” said Ayomide.

“Then she asked me to wait another three months for my passport or pay N15,000 for her to fast-track the passport, which would be ready four days after payment. I was angry, because why would they ask me to pay money after misplacing my file? Why should I be the one to pay for their own error?”

He told FIJ he agreed to pay because he could not afford to wait another three months. Ayomide said Rosemary Orhiabor was the NIS Alausa office staff who asked him to pay N15,000 to “fast-track” the passport application.

“She took me to meet her colleague inside the office and said that was who I would pay the N15,000 to,” he said.

According to a transaction receipt seen by FIJ, Ayomide sent the sum of N15,000 to one Taiwo Olusegun Olatunji. He told FIJ that he got his passport on Tuesday.

When FIJ called Orhiabor, she said they had only been trying to help Ayomide correct his mistake.

“The boy made a mistake, and we were only trying to help him. This is why we don’t help people,” she said.

Ayomide told FIJ she called him later to ask why he reported the case to a journalist.

This reporter also surfed X to see if more Nigerians had encountered similar experiences at the hands of staff members of the NIS office in Alausa.

FIJ saw one tweet posted by @smartbenson1, an X user, on June 28, 2024.

He wrote: “I renewed/captured since January. To date, my passport is yet to be ready. I even had to pay money for lamination to one yeye officer who is not plain. I was told to pay for a fast-track at the Alausa passport office. Kindly help out. This is unfair.”

FIJ emailed the NIS on Wednesday, but they did not respond.