An Abia State-based radiographer has accused the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in Umuahia, the state capital, of extorting applicants in exchange for passport issuance.

The radiographer, who pleaded anonymity, told FIJ that NIS officials in the state ‘set traps’ for innocent Nigerians so they can fall victim to their various fraudulent schemes.

He stated that he knew about the development in April when one official attempted to defraud him a second time at the NIS office.

“In March, I went to the passport office for my passport, where I met an NIS official,” he told FIJ.

“The officer I met said I had to pay N60,000 before I got my passport, which I did. He said he needed the money for registration. And this was when I fell victim to his scam.”

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He said the officer assured him that his passport would be ready in three weeks as he had ‘sent it to those who would work on it’.

The radiographer stated that when he visited the office in April to get his passport, the officer told him something else.

“He said the person who was to help out with printing out the passport had travelled. He said they now print from Enugu and not Umuahia, adding that if I needed it, I must pay another N20,000,” he said.

“I got angry because I knew it was racketeering playing out all over again. The officer even boldly told me that bribing NIS officials was inevitable if one wanted to get his passport.

READ ALSO: In Kwara, ‘Immigration Officers Only Issue Passports to Those Willing to Pay Bribes’

“He told me there was no way I could get a passport here with no NIS staffer assisting me. By that, he meant bribe.”

The researcher said he later visited the Servicom department within the NIS premises to make enquiries about his passport, but was told by the official he met to pay another N20,000.

“He said I should pay another N20,000 to fast track the issuance of my passport, but I felt it was wrong,” he said.

When FIJ called Amos Okpu, the NIS Spokesperson, on the issue, he said the allegation was strange as the NIS does not condone such acts.

“In the first instance, the so-called applicant has not followed our process. If you investigate this matter now, you will see that this transaction took place somewhere and not within NIS premises. What you explained to me is strange to our own platform,” he said.