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Tag: Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)

  • Court stops planned promotion by Nigerian Immigration Service

    Court stops planned promotion by Nigerian Immigration Service

    The National Industrial Court in Abuja has ordered the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPSB) and the NIS from proceeding with their planned promotion exercise for senior officials of the Immigration Service.

    Justice M. N. Esowe of Court 3 of the National Industrial Court said, in an ex-parte ruling yesterday, that the affected agencies and officers are to put off the promotion exercise pending the determination of a pending motion on notice filed along with a substantive suit by an aggrieved NIS official, Daniel Makolo.

    The judge gave the ruling after listening to argument by Makolo’s lawyer; I. M. Ebikwo argued the ex-parte application filed along with the suit marked: NICN/BAJ/208/2017.

    Justice Esowa noted, in the ruling, that “the applicant was once accused of offence from which he was cleared. See letter of notification of clearance by the 2nddefendant dated 2nd March, 2017. In the 3rd July 2017 promotion examination for senior officers of the defendants, Compro. 08 – 14, applicant was not invited for verification/accreditation.

    “Even though the promotion candidate is not as of right, in the interest of justice, all workers should be given the opportunity of attending the examination.  The claimant/applicant was singularly omitted from this opportunity, which smacks of malice.

    “Whereby the court hereby makes this order restraining the defendants, their agents, privies, cronies or representatives, in any form or guise from harassing or intimidating the claimant/applicant and from carrying out any promotion exercise pending the hearing and determination of this motion on notice already filed, and thus maintaining the status quo ante,” the judge said.

    Justice Esowe adjourned to August 2, 2017 for the hearing of Makolo’s motion on notice for interlocutory injunctions against the defendants – the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPSB) and the NIS.

    Makolo stated, in a supporting affidavit, that he joined the NIS in 1987 as a senior officer on grade level 07 and has put in about 30 years in service. He said he has served diligently and has never been issued a query, but has only been promoted four times due to the manipulation of the process by some entrenched interests.

    He said: “My performances earned me recommendations, the fruits of which I was never allowed to enjoy due to blackmail and malicious treatment meted out to me by unscrupulous elements and their protégés at the helms of affair in the defendant organisations, with fraudulent intentions.

    “Promotion is manipulated against me at an average of six years as against three years stipulated in the extant rules and regulations contained in the terms and condition of service entered into by the parties.

    “My unwarranted and unjustified denial of promotions was actuated by blackmail and malice by the 1st defendant’s (NIS’) officers and same has continued till date as a result of which I have been kept in limbo, stagnated on the Chief Superintendent of Immigration (CSI) rank for about a decade now despite being a lawyer, a holder of NCE, LLB, BL, LLM degrees,” Makolo said.

    By August 2, the court is also expected to open hearing in the substantive suit, in which Makolo is among others, claiming N50million in damages, an order compelling the defendant to accord him his deserved rank of Deputy Comptroller of NIS and to take effect from 2012.

  • NIS repatriates 450 illegal immigrants from Edo

    NIS repatriates 450 illegal immigrants from Edo

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Tuesday, said it arrested and repatriated no fewer than 450 illegal immigrants from Edo in the first quarter of the year.

    Comptroller of Immigration in the state, Mr David Adi, disclosed this at the presentation of a refurbished Hilux van by the Management of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc to the command, in Benin.

    Adi said that those repatriated were mainly from Niger Republic, Mali and Ghana, adding that they were “irregular immigrants’’ and security risks to the country.

    He said that the affected foreigners had no regular travel documents and credible means of livelihood.

    Adi commended Okomu Oil Palm Company for the vehicle, saying that the gesture would help the command in achieving its statutory duties.

    He said that the success of the raid on illegal aliens’ domain was attributable to logistics support by some companies, including Okomu Oil Palm Company, in the state.

    “The company had sunk a borehole at our outpost station at Iguobazuwa in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo.

    “The command additionally requested for the company’s assistance in refurbishing the van and the managing director agreed.

    “We appreciate the long-standing relationship between the company and the command.

    “I will definitely pass on this gesture to the Comptroller-General of Immigration Service and I hope other stakeholders will emulate this good gesture,’’ he said.

    Earlier, the Managing Director, Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, Dr Graham Heifer, had said that the gesture was the company’s way of fulfilling part of its corporate social responsibility to NIS to enhance its operational efficiency.

    “Immigration service has always assisted us in the area of educating our expatriates to ensure that they do the right thing with regard to immigration laws,’’ Heifer said.

    According to him, we have 15 expatriates from countries such as South Africa, Kenya and America in our company.

    “We ensured they came into the country following approved protocol.

    “It is our obligation as part of our corporate social responsibility, to assist Immigration Service to enhance its operational efficiency.

    “Our company hopes that this refurbished van will improve the service’s operational efficiency,’’ he said.

  • NIS to rehabilitate training schools in four states

    The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede has pledged to rehabilitate the Service training schools in Kano, Sokoto, Rivers and Imo states.

    Babandede made the pledge in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

    He said that the measure was to ensure that‎ the schools are repositioned in line with international best practices for the training of officers and men of the Service.
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    Babandede said his vision was to restore the old glory of the schools when it used to train para-military operatives from the West Africa sub-region and beyond.
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    He noted that with the ongoing‎ recruitment into the Service, the schools need to be in top shape to accommodate and train the new recruits.
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    He said he had inspected facilities at the Kano training school during the combined passing out parade of 456 officers and border patrol corps with a view to getting first hand knowledge on the level of work done.

    He said that plans were underway to visit other training schools also with a view to repositioning them.
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    The NIS boss appealed to the respective state governments where the schools are domiciled to also support in the rehabilitation and equipping of the schools.
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    He said that some renovations had been carried out in the schools but more still needed to be done in terms upgrading their facilities to international standard.

    He said that the NIS was already collaborating with its international donor partners such as the European Union (EU), GIZ, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in the training of officers and men in the schools.

  • Immigration recalls dismissed officer

    Immigration recalls dismissed officer

     

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), on Wednesday, submitted a Memorandum of Settlement to the National Industrial Court, Abuja, on agreement reached to reinstate Mr Sule Abdul, dismissed in 2015.
    Counsel to the NIS, Mr Usman Awachi, told the court that it had reached this agreement with the claimant, and would like the court to adopt same as judgment.
    It would be recalled that Abdul, an Immigration Assistant, dragged his employer to court, contesting his illegal dismissal over alleged misconduct in 2015.
    Both parties, however, had urged the court to grant them leave to explore settlement in the matter.
    Counsel to the claimant, Mr Iheanyichukwu Maraizu, confirmed the settlement and urged the court to enter it as judgment.
    The judge, Justice Ebeye Isele, adopted the Memorandum of Settlement as judgment and entered it accordingly.

  • HAJJ: Ogun cautions intending pilgrims against unholy behaviour

    HAJJ: Ogun cautions intending pilgrims against unholy behaviour

    The Chairman of Ogun State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Dr Ishaq Yusuf, on Wednesday, cautioned intending pilgrims to this year’s Hajj to refrain from unholy conducts that could tarnish the image of the state and the country.

    Yusuf admonished the intending pilgrims during their screening in Abeokuta.

    He urged the pilgrims to protect the integrity the state had been known for in performing the Hajj.

    He warned that any pilgrim who engaged in any illicit act in the holy land would be handed over to appropriate authorities for necessary sanction.

    He also enjoined the intending pilgrims to make the fear of Allah their watchword as they participate in the exercise.

    He explained that the screening was designed to know those who were qualified or not through their Islamic knowledge and understanding.

    “If they are qualified, no problem, but for those who are not, their money will be given back to them and we will ask them to prepare for next year.

    “Also the involvement of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and State Security Service (SSS) in the screening is to fish out those with fake travelling documents.

    “The exercise will also avail us the opportunity to ascertain their nationalities because we don’t want people outside the country to tarnish our reputation,” he said.

    Some of the intending pilgrims, Mr Abdul Rasheed Sanni, Mrs Hussenat Sanni and Mrs Silfat Bakare, said the screening had prepared them better for the Hajj exercise.

    They urged the State Government to sustain the standard of the exercise.

  • Passport booklet: FG explores local production to ease scarcity

    The‎ Federal Government says it is seriously exploring the local production of passport booklets in the country as part of plans to save cost and ease the lingering scarcity of the document.

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    Mr Sunday James, spokesperson for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

    NAN reports that the passport booklet is presently being produced‎ by Iris Smart Technology Nigeria (ISTL) through its parent company, Iris Corporation based in Malaysia.
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    James said that‎ the Minister of Interior, retired LT.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau had directed for the domestication of the production of the passport booklets in the country.

    He, however, did not give details of the directive, claiming that he was not to be preview to it‎.

    James assured that notwithstanding the measure, the NIS was working round the clock to ensure sustained delivery and distribution of the booklets across all its commands in the country.

    “The Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, wishes to inform the general public and most especially those who have approached our Passport
    Processing Centres of recent, that the Service now has standard Passport Booklets in sufficient quantity for issuance.

    “All Passport Control Officers have been directed to clear the backlog of outstanding applications,” he said.‎
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    Mr Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, the Press Secretary to the Minister of Interior,told NAN that the minister was committed to resolving all issues relating to the passport production.‎
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    Osaigbovo said that the minister had set up a committee, headed by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to look into the local production of the document and resolve the challenge posed by its scarcity.

    He said the committee was also charged with the responsibility of exploring ways of starting the local production of the passport booklets, in view of the numerous advantages.

    “You know if we produce the booklets locally, we will be safeguarding the critical database of Nigerians, safe foreign exchange and create more employment,” he said.

    He further said the committee was set up to iron out all the legal issues associated with the current contract with ISTL with a view to ensuring local production and involving the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company in the production.

    NAN investigation reveals that ISTL had in 2016 requested an upward review of the price of obtaining the passports‎ due to what it termed the increased cost of production and falling exchange rate of the naira to the dollar.
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    Nigerians all over the country and abroad have continued to complain about the delay in getting and renewing their international passport due to the scarcity of the passport booklets.

     

  • FG to deploy NSCDC special force to protect agricultural investments

     

    No fewer than 3,000 personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) Special Force known as “Agro-rangers” will be deployed to protect farms and agricultural investments in the country.

    The Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a news conference.

    Dambazau said that the measure was meant to stem the tide of herdsmen/farmers clashes and protect agricultural investments in the country.

    He said that the armed NSCDC personnel would be specially trained in the act of protection and mediation in conflicts, especially as it related to ownership of farmlands and arresting cattle rustlers.

    “We know that the Police are being over-stretched in terms of maintaining law and order while the military is also battling insurgency.

    “So this falls within the purview of the NSCDC, this agro-ranger will be trained in the protection of agricultural assets and mediation in issues such as land disputes,” he said.

    He said the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has also been charged, especially with the new Immigration Regulations 2017, to ensure proper registration/monitoring of all foreigners, including foreign herdsmen who come into the country.

    The minister said that although Nigeria was a signatory to the ECOWAS Trans-human protocol which allowed herdsmen from the region into the country, all the necessary precautions such as registration and possession of valid travel documents would be enforced.

    He expressed optimism that all these measures would help in addressing farmers/herdsmen clashes and boost agricultural production as part of government’s plan to diversify the economy.

     

  • ‎NIS boss tasks officers on strict enforcement of new immigration regulations

    The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Muhammad Babandede, has charged officers and men of the Service to ensure strict enforcement of the new Immigration Regulations 2017.

    Babandede gave the charge on Sunday in Abuja at workshop for‎ senior officers of the Service on the implementation of the new immigration law.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister of Interior, (retired) Lt.-Gen.‎ Abdulrahman Dambazau had on March 20 launched the newly gazette Immigration Regulations 2017.

    The NIS boss said that the workshop was‎ organised to acquaint officers and men of the service on the new law and how to effectively and professionally implement it.

    “This workshop is meant to train our officers on the Immigration Act 2015 and the Immigration Regulation 2017 with the aim of understanding and implementing the new law,’’ he said.

    He expressed optimism that with the proper implementation of the Immigration Regulations, issues of illegal immigrants and trans-border crimes will soon be nipped in the bud.

    Babandede said aside the training there was also need for the deployment of sophisticated equipment, gadgets and border patrol vehicles to strategic locations across the country.

    ‎The new Immigration document which replaces the outdated Immigration Act of 1963 empowers the NIS to properly register all foreigners, protect the borders, enhance internal security and attract foreign investors in line with international best practices.

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    The workshop was attended by senior officers of the NIS, Immigration experts, the academia and the legal advisers from the NIS and Ministry of Interior‎.

  • Senate summons ministers, AGF, four firms over e-passport deals

    Senate summons ministers, AGF, four firms over e-passport deals

    The Senate ad hoc committee investigating alleged misuse, under remittance, and other fraudulent activities in the collection, remittance and expenditure of internally generated revenue by MDAs has invited the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, Minister of Interior, General Danbazzau and  Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris over alleged shady deals in the production and sale of e-passport.

    Also summoned by the committee to shed light on the multi-billion naira production and sale of e-passport includes four companies.

    They are to appear before the Senator Solomon Adeola led committee to explain their roles on e-Passport production and other immigration related issues that the companies performed on behalf of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). The firms were said to have entered into public private partnership (PPP) arrangement with the NIS over the years.

    The invited companies included Contec Nigeria Ltd, Greater Washington Nigeria Ltd, New work Solution and Investment Ltd, and Iris Smart Technologies which works on e-passport production, expatriate residence permit and alien card and related immigration.

    The companies are also said to have contractual agreements to perform some revenue generating service on behalf of the NIS “with the companies withholding a hefty percentage of revenue that would have accrued to the Federal Government.”

    Senator Adeola issued the invitation following the presentation made by the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. Mohammed Babandede, on the revenue profile of the service. The committee wanted to know how generated revenue, “running into billions of naira and dollar, were shared by the companies, NIS and the Federal Government.”

    Adeola said, “I am at loss why huge part of revenue generated by NIS continued to be paid to private firms in the name of PPP that should actually be based on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT).

    “We cannot continue to deny Nigerians the benefits that would accrue to them through increase revenue to government coffers instead of huge earnings for private concerns.

    “This is an area that government can generate huge revenue. There is need to get clarifications on this issue from all the parties involved.”

    The CG of NIS, in his presentation, noted that the reasons for entering into PPP arrangement at the time the government did was attributed to inadequate funding and late release of budgeted sums, multiple acquisition of travel documents and poor revenue generation. He added that the private partners provided all the funding while money realized in the course of issuing facilities is shared with government in order to allow the private partners recoup their investment.

    The Immigration boss said that for the period of investigation by the Senate between 2012-2016 total remittance to Federal Government stood at over N17 billion and over$112million.

    He noted that “revenue accruing to government has increased almost a hundred fold since the introduction of these (PPP) agreements”.

  • NIS recruits 38 officers in Bayelsa

    NIS recruits 38 officers in Bayelsa

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Bayelsa Command, has completed recruitment training for 38 officers and men in Yenagoa.

    Mr Oche William, the Comptroller of the command, made this known in his office at end of the training on Wednesday.

    According to him, the seven officers and 31 men are all indigenes of Bayelsa.

    He added that the personnel comprised 24 males and 14 females.

    William said that due process was followed in the recruitment of the workers.

    He urged the workers to be disciplined and hardworking.

    William said that the new workers would later be sent for further training