Bisola David
A tour guide, Adesanya Oresanya, claims that Bako Doma, a member of the Nigeria Immigration Service, demanded N200,000 from him in exchange for renewing his passport.
According to The Punch, the applicant said that the immigration officer had also stopped returning his calls.
He stated that in April 2021, he applied for a passport renewal at the NIS headquarters in Abuja. He explained that the age disparity between some of his documents and his previous passport prompted him to ask the immigration officer for help.
He added that Doma had promised to handle everything within two months and that he had been informed that the problem could only be rectified at the immigration headquarters in Abuja.
But Oresanya bemoaned the fact that his efforts to obtain a passport for more than 21 months had been fruitless.
He claimed that extortion was inevitable during the application process.
The media professional claimed that without his passport, he was unable to go on business trips, training sessions, or workshops.
He claimed, “I called Servicom in February 2022 after finding their phone number on the NIS website. They obtained the officer’s information from me so they could speak with him directly.
“They advised me to call back, which I did. They claimed they were having trouble reaching him. The second time I phoned, the same thing happened. The third time, they called him while I was still on the line, but he did not pick up. That was the scenario, they said, ever since.
“He finally picked up the phone after being called approximately five times, and they stated they had instructed him to visit Servicom’s office to give their side of the story. I called them again after that, and they informed me that he had explained that he had submitted all of my documents and made the requisite penalty payment.
“They claimed that the delay was caused by the controller-generals approval of the age discrepancy issues. After a while, Servicom stopped answering my calls.
“Initially, in April 2021, I handed officer Bako Sani Doma N150,000. I gave him an extra N50,000 since he said he needed more to advance the procedure in July 2022”.
Oresanya continued, “I have missed out on international tourism conferences that I regularly attended; I plan tours for Nigerians traveling abroad. I can’t repeat that. It has an impact on my financial situation and business.
“There are a lot of international engagements that I would have been able to attend, but I can’t do that because I don’t have a passport that is still valid”.
The cop could not be located despite attempt. His phone was unresponsive, and he ignored several texts that were sent to him.
A spokesman for NIS, Tony Akuneme, indicated that the organization was eager to find a solution.
Akuneme declared, “My name is Tony Akuneme, and if I write Akuneme Tony in my passport, it won’t be accepted; that’s how the new passport system works.
“But many individuals either don’t know about it or don’t grasp it. So, all we are doing right now is raising awareness.
“The truth is that the new leadership is devoted to changing the culture, disciplining offenders, and raising awareness among the populace since they are Nigerians and cannot be recruited from the moon to work as immigration officers.
“Because the Servicom unit is overburdened, we have taken over their workload. I’m ready to take charge of the situation, and I’ll see that it’s resolved. We’ll attempt to resolve the passport issue before turning our attention to the immigration officer and seeing what can be done about him”.
