When Samson, a finance technician from Lagos, approached Sodiq Rajilola to process his international passport in 2024, he never imagined he would be disappointed.

Rajilola was his elder brother’s friend, so he did not think anything could go wrong.

The finance technician told FIJ that Rajilola had told him he would get his passport within one or two months. However, more than a year later, he has neither received his passport nor a refund.

Though Rajilola is not in direct employment with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), he works as an agent at the Festac Office who helps applicants facilitate their passport application process for a fee.

So, on February 8, 2024, he paid N53,000 into Rajilola’s Moniepoint account for the 32-page passport booklet with a five-year validity.

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FIJ understands that as of February, the official price of the 32-page passport booklet was N35,000. It was not until August that the NIS announced an increase in the cost of passport booklets effective from September 1. With the increase, the 32-page booklet became N50,000.

But since Samson paid the passport agent long before the increase, this means he paid Rajilola N18,000 more than the official price at the time.

After Samson made the payment, he expected Rajilola to notify him when he would need to go to the passport office at Festac for his biometric data capture.

“He said I would get the passport in a month or two. After sending him the money, I asked him when I would go for capturing and all. I only want to do this snapping registration. He sent me the address of someone at Festac. It’s one of the shops within the Festac area for registration,” said Samson.

“After the registration, he was supposed to send the money for the passport payment to be done online for a code to be generated, but he did not do that. The person who registered me was waiting for the confirmation, but Rajilola did not do the needful.”

When it had become obvious that Rajilola would not help facilitate the passport application, Samson then asked for a refund of the N53,000.

“But since then, he has been turning me around. Whenever I asked him for the money, he would say he was on it and that he would pay it,” Samson told FIJ.

“I even reported his account to his bank, and it was blocked then, but I believe it was later activated. Yet, no payment has been made to me.”

READ ALSO: NIS’ Festus Philip Took Lagos Couple’s N230,000. No Passports, Half Refund 7 Months Later

When FIJ called Rajilola on Wednesday, he admitted that he collected N53,000 from Samson but could not proceed with the passport process because he had to use the money to sort some medical bills at the time.

“What I collected from him was not even up to the amount I usually charged people because he’s like a younger brother to me. He had an issue with his National Identification Number (NIN) along the line after he had sent the money. And I waited for him to rectify the issue,” Rajilola told FIJ.

“While waiting for him, I had a family issue, so I had to quickly use the money to settle some medical bills. My mum was ill at the time. When he was ready to process the passport, I told him to exercise patience as I was expecting some money. I told him I would call him on what to do next regarding the data capture and all.

“Then he went to report the account he paid the money to. I received a message that my account had been blocked, and someone had just paid me some money for another job at the time.

“I cannot eat his money. I will pay him. Many people are owing me money, too. Not even one or two million. If not because of some financial issues I am in, I would have paid him back. It’s not as if I don’t have it in mind to pay him.”

All attempts to make him give a specific time on when he would refund Samson’s N53,000 were unsuccessful. “I cannot give a specific time because I might not be able to meet up, and I don’t want to disappoint, but I will pay him.”

Rajilola also said he would call Samson immediately after FIJ’s call to discuss with him. However, he did not reach out as promised.

“He did not call me,” said the finance technician on Thursday morning.

Editor’s Note: Samson asked FIJ to use only his first name.