We’ll Go House-to-house To Retrieve Diplomatic Passports – Immigration Boss

The Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mohammed Babandede has said that the service will go house to house to retrieve diplomatic passport from former government officials who are still in custody of such passport illegally, adding that it is also considering two years jail term for defaulters.

Speaking during an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja, the CGI maintains that there are strategies to collect the passports from the holders at the borders.

Babandede disclosed that the NIS has received approval to write to federal, states,  local governments institutions to henceforth include the return of diplomatic passport as requisite to collecting retirement benefits.

According to him, ”If you are a Senator or members of House of Representatives, before you finish your tenure there is something that is called severance benefits. Before you collect the benefits, you must return you diplomatic passport.

“The next thing we will do is to go house to house to  collect it. It is an offence. I told a former minister that it is an offence for you to hold a passport when you don’t deserve it. It attracts two years jail term. We will soon begin to catch defaulters.  People have started returning a lot of the passports.”

“Also, you cannot cross the border with the diplomatic passport if you are not entitled to it, we will collect it.