The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede, has lamented that politicians now passed through the borders without checks by immigration officers.
He vowed stiff punishment for any officer who connived with politicians to flout immigration laws.
Speaking during the decoration of 14 Assistant Comptrollers-General with their new rank in Abuja on Tuesday, the CG disclosed that 15 persons were being prosecuted for falsely claiming loss of their e-passports.
In his advise to the new ACGs, the NIS boss said, “I will like to ask you to be more dedicated and supervise those who are working under you. You must be very vigilant and watch people who cross our borders.
“There are people who cross our borders without appearing before immigration. In recent time, some politicians and big men think they can pass through the borders without passing through immigration officers.”
He continued, “It is an offence under the Act. You are liable to punishment regardless of whoever you are. You and the officer involved will be prosecuted because officers don’t have immunity because it is a law that a person must present himself and pass through immigration.”
He explained that an immigration officer was facing criminal charges for assisting an applicant to procure a court affidavit in order to obtain an e-passport, warning that a NIS officer cannot be a regulator and a broker at the same time.
He noted, “We have an officer who is being prosecuted; somebody who came to get a passport claimed that he lost his passport and the officer was the one who got an affidavit for him.
“We have arrested the individuals who lied and declared their passports missing; In the last few months, we have arrested as many as 15.”
