The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kwara State Command, has revealed that there are currently 3,000 uncollected international passports in its office. The outgoing Comptroller of Passports in the command, Baba Aliyu, made this known during a retirement party held in his honor in Ilorin.
Expressing concern over the situation, Mr. Aliyu called on the federal government to take appropriate measures against the individuals who have abandoned their passports. He noted that the NIS has been unable to reach several of these applicants as the contact details they provided are either fake or non-functional.
“We usually send SMS notifications to inform applicants about the availability of their passports, but due to the use of fake phone numbers, some messages failed to reach them,” Mr. Aliyu explained. “While it is possible that some applicants may have passed away, others may have simply refused to collect their passports because they found an alternative means for their intended purposes.”
Emphasizing the importance of passports, the Comptroller urged applicants to collect their documents, highlighting the various functions that passports serve beyond being travel documents. He also clarified that these abandoned passports belong to applicants from different parts of Nigeria, not just Kwara.
To expedite the collection and renewal of passports, Mr. Aliyu advised interested Nigerians to visit the immigration website at immigration.gov.ng to initiate their applications. He assured applicants that the process takes only two weeks, whether for first-time applications or renewals.
The Nigeria Immigration Service continues to encourage individuals to value and collect their international passports promptly, as each passport holds great significance for both personal identification and international travel.
NAN
