The Passport Controller, Lagos Passport Command, Mrs. Milka Musa, Controller of Immigration (CIS), on Monday said that about 13 800, passports remained uncollected at the Lagos Passport offices.
She said about 12,300 were uncollected at Ikoyi passport office, while 1500 were at the Festac office, adding that a-yet-to-be ascertained number of passports, also remained uncollected at the Ikeja passport office.
NPO Reports recalls that Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola had complained in May this year that about 14,000 processed passports were not claimed by owners.
The passport controller appealed to applicants, who had applied in any of the passport offices before September, 2021, to check their respective office of application for collection.
She further confirmed that the Passport Control Officer ( PCO) in charge of each of the offices had sent text messages as a reminder to applicants concerned.
“ However, based on the volume of the uncollected passports, I believe the applicants had forgotten they applied for a passport. And these may be the category of applicants who were in haste when they came to apply.
“ The Nigerian Immigration Service ( NIS) is appealing to these applicants to come and collect their passports,” she said.
The controller further appealed to applicants to support the service in its operations, to enhance optimal service delivery, saying, “There are series of security checks that must be conducted on each applicant before the passport could be issued.
“ Nigerians should stop being in a haste when they come to apply for passports, because the series of operations and security checks involved before issuance could not be carried out in seconds.
“The NIS, under the watch of the new Acting Control General of Immigration Service, ( ACGIS) , Mr Idris Jere, would not relent in its efforts at providing super services to Nigerians,” Musa said.
She explained that the scarcity of passport witnessed earlier was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had caused the world to stand still as ”all sectors were locked down”.
“However, when the lockdown was eased, what the NIS witnessed was a geometric growth in passport applications, she said.
