Photo caption :ACG Doris Braimah presiding at the first quarterly meeting with Comptrollers under her Command today at the Zone’s headquarters at Ikeja, Lagos
,,Says Service Committed To Preventing Spread Of COVID-19
Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) in-charge of Nigeria Immigration Service Zone A Headquarters, Ikeja, Lagos, Doris Braimah has stated that the job of NIS is to issue prospective applicants passports and other travel documents excluding the issuance of National Identity Number(NIN)that is issued by the National Identity Management Commission(NIMC).
She made the clarification shortly after holding the first quarterly meeting of the Zone with Comptrollers under her Command today Zone A headquarter, Ikeja,Lagos.
She explained that following directive from the Federal Government, NIN has been made a prerequisite for obtaining Nigerian passport, advising prospective applicants and Nigerians not to mix the two together.
According to her, “Nigeria Immigration Service issues passports and other travel documents while NIMC issues NIN. But the government has made it mandatory that before you obtain passport you must have gotten your NIN from NIMC”
On the insinuations that NIS is collecting money from Nigerians to issue NIN, ACG Braimah stated categorically that NIS does not issue NIN in the first place, wondering how Immigration would be collecting money for what it is not in charge of.
She said that what happened was that she had a closed door meeting with NIMC officials on the activities of their men and the need to put a stop to it, as it would dent the image of the service .
She added that at the meeting, NIMC officials promised that such does not happen again .
“NIMC is responsible for issuing NIN while NIS issues pasaport.
However, NIN is a major requirement for the issuance of passport.I have told them that they are here to serve prospective applicants. I told them to take some prospective applicants to other locations.
“We cannot sit down and fold our arms and watch people trying to destroy the image the Comptroller General of Immigration(CGI), Muhammed Babandede led administration, has built for the service. We have spoken to them and I believe that having done that it will not happen again,” She said.
She commended the comptrollers under her command for a job well done and for their level of commitment to the service, adding that they have proven their management skills with what they have achieved.
She urged them to continue to demonstrate their commitments to the service in line with the CGI’s vision.
Speaking on measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19, the Zone A boss, said that in line with the CGI’s directive, the service is on top of the situation, adding that the CGI is very serious about curtailing the spread of the pandemic, as he has provided men and officers with Personal Protective Equipment(PPE).
Also speaking on COVID-19, the Comptroller Immigration, Lagos, Bauchi Aliyu said that the CGI Babandede has provided men and officers at the borders the equipment to prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
He explained that Seme border is fully operational and that mechanism has been put in place to ensure that men and officers of the command are safe by observing all the safety protocols.
“We are dealing with people from other countries that we don’t know their status .To prevent the spread of the pandemic into the country, we are complying with the protocols of the National Centre for Disease Control(NCDC),” he said.
Speaking further, Aliyu stated that the CGI, Muhammed Babandede has been proactive by providing the service with the needful as it concerns COVID-19 and put in all the locations the necessary measures.
On the expatriate quota, Aliyu said that a meeting was held to further raise the stake on the compliance to expatriate quota as directed by the Federal Government .
On the fire outbreak at NIS headquarters in Abuja, Aliyu said that though there was fire but that it did not affect the service’s operations.
He further explained that the service has back ups and that the fire only affected physical infrastructure.
The Comptroller said that apart from putting additional measures in place, the service has also gone ahead to organise fire drills for men and officers of the service in line with the CGI’s directive.
