By Our Reporter
Following yesterday’s suspension of capturing of biometrics for new Enhanced E-Passport at the Nigeria High Commission in London, United Kingdom, Nigerians in the Diaspora have vehemently condemned the announcement of the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK over what they term as fraud, extortion and undue hardship inflicted on legitimate passports applicants in the United Kingdom.
The news which broke last night indeed sent wrong signals to many Nigerians particularly those that have had to travel long distances from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, etc to the Mission in London without positive resolution of their respective consular issues.
Many, in our investigation would recall the deplorable
situation of passport issuance and renewals after the lockdown and the then suspension of operations between December 2019 and April 2021 in a supposed attempt to address the issues responsible for the then anomalous situation.
Pouring out their minds, a number of Nigerians spoken to over the development alleged that the move by the High Commissioner could be linked to his idea of giving prominence and attention to the “compulsory” 120 pounds fast track system which according to them had been a “soft landing” for the Commissioner since he assumed office in London.
This, they argued had been the only system that has been working since the lockdown, all other normal procedure have been rendered inactive and useless. “If you don’t have the 120 pounds, it means you cannot get attention to process application and eventual issuance of passports at the Nigerian High Commission in London”, retorted Mrs. Ada Liwett.
In what many described as high handedness and untoward attitude of the High Commissioner, it has been alleged that the High Commissioner is particularly after the £120, reason why he has suspended the capturing of the passports application biometrics, to make way for the compelling 120 pounds payments.
The move, many ascribed to his massive and “illegal” pocketing of hundreds of thousands of pounds, thereby building a war chest for his political and Governorship ambition in Nigeria.
He is said to be very unhappy that his illegal pipeline has been stopped following the visitation of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who after the launch of the enhanced E-passports abolished the fast track processing.
This, did not go for too long and so the hiccups returned, thereby leaving Nigerians to go through the herculean task of not able to make passport application with ease, the way and manner it is done in developed countries, particularly in the UK. Hence the yesterday’s suspension of the biometrics application, so he could return the need for re-introduction of the “illegal” £120 postal order payments.
Not only that, the High Commissioner is said to be the only one that personally allocates daily passport number’s for issuance to the Head of Passport, a development that had generated stiff condemnation from various cadres of staff of the Mission House. “The Head of Passport who is a senior office of Immigration of the rank ACI has been made redundant and no one could question him why this is so”, revealed our dependable source.
The High Commissioner’s recent fraternity with a UK- based organisation, CANUK has equally been linked with his alleged amorous relationship with a female member who’s said to be his money conduit, helping in making his huge transfers to Nigeria.
In his release yesterday, the Ambassador suspended passport applications and advised applicants to apply for ETC which again cost £120 aside from the fast track payment of £120. Nigerians have however attributed this to discouraging foreign students from coming into the UK because they will be unable to renew their visas while those with Home Office approvals would not be able to receive their permits. Also those with UK residency who travel home with ETC will be unable to return to the UK without a passport.
We also got a reaction from one Mr. Banjo Adewole who claimed he had been parading the High Commission from Manchester since January only to get appointments for his family’s passports application wondered why after the launch of enhanced E-passport operations in London on 23rd November 2021, Nigerians in the United Kingdom were still faced with many challenges, particularly on the issuance of National Identification Number (NIN) and the appointments for biometrics capture.
Although, the Mission was said to have supposedly taken steps to address the issues of Nigerians in need of passports for urgent reasons but, we learnt this did not yield much result and the hiccups sometimes build up tension and frustration which, hitherto, were responsible for multiple ugly incidents recorded in the Mission, thus exposing the entire staff to danger like breaking of vehicle screens, knife attacks on vehicles’ tyres, assaults on staff, and general insecurity in the Mission’s premises and its surroundings.
The continuous physical and verbal assaults of the staff of the Mission arising from the frustration many face however led to a meeting of the Nigerian Community convened to find a solution to the challenges associated with passport issuance before it deteriorates into avoidable calamities. The meeting took place on Tuesday, 22nd March 2022, at the Conference room of the Nigeria High Commission, London. Present at the meeting were members of the Nigerian Council of Elders in the UK, comprising Pa Adebayo Oladimeji, Arc Otunba Mobolaji Falase, Dr. Boma Douglas, Chief Fred Ajiduah, in concert with the Chairman of Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom (CANUK) – Mr. Ayo Akinfe, leading the Executive members of the Association. Nigeria High Commission was led to the meeting by the High Commissioner, other members included the Deputy High Commissioner, Head of Immigration, Head of Chancery, Immigration Attachés, staff of the Consular, Education and Welfare Section.
We have it on good authority that while the meeting lasted, reports on telephone calls received by the Mission consistently put average call logs of 84% on the frustration associated with the
Enhanced E-passport while the CANUK Chairman reported that 70% of the challenges of Nigerians from December 2021 till date centered on the frustrations now associated with the new Enhanced E-Passport.
Apparently optimistic that the said meeting would yield positive results in finding lasting solution to the yearnings of Nigerians in the UK, they however got the shock of their lives yesterday when news broke last night that the biometrics capture on the new Enhanced E-Passport at the Nigeria High Commission in London was suspended with effect from Monday, 28th March 2022, “until these challenges are resolved, in the interest of the Nigerian Community in the United Kingdom”.
As Nigerians in the UK are yet to digest the intention of the High Commissioner in perpetuating the suffering they had been subjected to in the last two years, many who spoke to us in anonymity ascribed the suspension to the prominence given to the fast track applicants who are compelled to pay 120 pounds for the supposed express service which they claimed had been the order of the day since the lockdown.
It would be recalled that the high commissioner has been using Covid lockdown as an excuse to charge Nigerians £120 extra fee on passport application since his resumption of office to deter Nigerians in The Diaspora and disable Nigeria immigration services which resulted in netting over 1.4b Naira monthly.
At the moment, it has been revealed that there is no backlog of applications of Covid effect anymore as all the applicant has been forced to pay extra £120 to get their application processed, that’s why the immigration services from Abuja device a working appointment process that allows applicants to choose a date of their choice without needing to pay any extra money in the name of fast track service.
Suspending this working process again by the High commissioner is however alleged to be tantamount to frustrating the efforts of immigration for his own selfish interest and subsequently jeopardize the efforts of immigration services in alleviating the problems facing Nigerians in the UK to obtain their legitimate Nigeria passport.
As at press time, a particular group of aggrieved Nigerians in the UK are said to be making moves to organize a representation of concerned Nigerians to travel from the UK to Nigeria to meet with the House of Assembly and the Senate to bare their minds on the undue hardship they have been subjected to over passports application and issuance since the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK resumed at the Mission in London.