Michael, in his 20s, was ecstatic having secured an admission to SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, for his post graduate programme. The young lad requires an international passport before he heads for Germany.
Basking in the euphoria of the admission, he breezed into the Ikoyi passport office of the Nigeria Immigration Office (NIS) on a July morning for an application.
“I paid N26,000 application charges online, did some print-outs and I was given a file for the manual completion of the process,” he said.
He was able to complete the application seamlessly and did his capturing on July 5, 2021 with the assurance that he would be issued the fresh passport in six weeks’ time, according to the timeline of the federal government.
However, Michael’s passport has not been produced more than ten weeks down the line, and sadly, he has been unable to meet up with the deadline. He deferred the admission.
“Of course, I want to use it to travel. I can’t commence Visa application without a passport.
“I have deferred my school admission because of it (delayed passport issuance) till next April,” he let out his frustration.
Michael’s only ‘sin’ was to toe the legitimate path of passport application. “I didn’t bribe anybody, I paid just N27,000 to complete the application process,” he said in an interaction with our reporter.
While his waiting game continues, thousands of applicants have walked into the Ikoyi passport office and secured their passports within 24 hours, two days or a week, depending on who you know or how fat your pocket is, in order to pay the ‘right price’. Welcome to the Ikoyi Passport office of corruption, extortion and open trade on ‘passport business’.
Inside notorious Ikoyi passport office
It was 6:58am on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 and the venue was the Ikoyi Passport office, located at Alagbon Road, Ikoyi. The gate was thrown open to the officials resuming duty, but applicants were sighted hanging around the environment. Applicants are only allowed in at 8 am when the business of the day starts.
Touts disguising as photographers and business centres operators mill around, seeking attention and patronage of the applicants. They are known faces within the passport office and serve as middlemen between applicants of the international passports and the corrupt officials.
“Wait and get a passport photograph, two minutes’ passport,” one of them said as he approached this reporter, standing by the roadside. “Or do you want to apply for an international passport,” he asked, the reporter responded in affirmation.
Drawing him closer, the reporter said to him, “My brother (the fixer with him) needs an international passport urgently. How can you be of help?” He expressed his readiness to link the reporter with an officer who would fast-track the process.
“But the earliest you can get it is three to six weeks,” he said emphatically.
“We are ready to pay any amount provided we will get it in one week,” the reporter insisted.
According to the touts, the passport of 32 pages would cost N45,000, while 64 pages go for N90,000.
Another tout identified as Afo Olaoluwa, a business centre operator, offered to facilitate issuance of the passport within three weeks.
At exactly 8am, all the applicants were asked to form three queues, the fresh applicants, those scheduled for data capturing and those whose passports are ready for pick-ups. The reporter and his fixer joined the line and filed into the premises.
Like a marketplace, Ikoyi Passport Office premises is full of hustling and bustling. Apart from the thousands of applicants wandering around, and the petty traders, corrupt officials seeking attention or paving ways for their clients, populate the environment. This, sometimes, makes the environment chaotic.
This reporter observed that at least 6 out of 10 NIS officers sighted within the premises, clutched application files of his or her clients. Many abandoned their duty posts to lobby for a fast-track process for their clients who after making “the right payment” were asked to go to sleep. Your presence is only required for data capturing and possibly the pick-up.
Application process
On the NIS website, it was stated that an applicant must register online. A 32-page 5-year standard passport goes for N25,000; 64-page 5-year standard passport goes for N35,000. On the other hand, the 64-page 10- year standard passport for adults (18 years and above) goes for N70,000; while the 32 page 5-year official passport goes for N15,000.
It further explained that the applicant will print out the receipt and some other forms like the indemnity form and guarantor’s forms that will be accessible to him after payment.
The applicant according to the NIS is expected to fill those forms and attach photocopies of state of origin certificate, birth certificate and other requirements, before taking it to any chosen passport office at the point of registration for verification and capturing.
However, a visit to the Ikoyi passport office showed that one out of 100 applicants passed through this process. Investigation also revealed that even when some of the applicants registered online, they are always frustrated to compromise the process. Some applicants who began the process themselves later sought the help of a corrupt officer that would finish the process because of the coordinated corruption approach.
At the Ikoyi office, there are two files, white and yellow. Insiders said white files are being used by those who compromised the legitimate process, while those who follow the NIS guidelines are handed yellow files with NIS boldly written on.
An encounter with officer Tingir
The search for a ‘fast track process’ brought this reporter in contact with Aondoseer Tingir, an Immigration Inspector. He was seen gallivanting within the premises in a manner that gave him out as seeking clients among a pool of applicants.
This reporter approached him and asked if he could facilitate an urgent issuance of a fresh passport in a matter of three days. Tingir bluntly said he was up to the task.
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