Comptroller of Immigration, Oyo State Command, Issa Alhassan Dansuleiman, has assured people living within the state that the standard Nigeria International Passport which is the major travel document will now be issued under one week.
He gave the assurance while receiving the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Oyo State Chapter, led by the Chairperson, Jadesola Ajibola, in his office.
The Immigration boss maintained that except for unforeseen circumstances like NIN number not appearing on the portal, the state command will not delay passport issuance.
According to him, when he came on board four months ago, the command had a backlog of 18,000 passports yet to be processed due to some unavoidable delays, stating that as a gallant law enforcement command, efforts are in top gear to ensure that passports are issued without any delay. He assured that late issuance of the passport has become a thing of the past in Oyo Command of NIS.
He noted that the command would not issue passports to anyone without the National Identification Number (NIN) and the process of getting a passport is now very flexible in order to make it easy for anyone to acquire a passport, especially the enhanced E-Passport.
Dansuleiman urged Nigerians to approach the command office for the Standard Nigeria Passport, Diplomatic passport, Official Passport, ECOWAS Certificate and Seman Certificate which are some of the services offered by the NIS.
He further assured that the command would support and collaborate with NAWOJ for the development of the state and country as a whole, noting that the media should continue to project the country in a positive light and continue in its role by sensitising the public on major issues that can bring development to the nation.
Chairperson of NAWOJ, Ajibola, in her remarks, called on the Command to collaborate with the association to project the service especially in the fight against human trafficking and child labour in the state, stating that the anti-human trafficking unit of the command had been performing well in curbing the menace of trafficking in persons.
She however noted that the command can do more in collaboration with NAWOJ, especially with the advent of the Violence against Persons Prohibition Law, which she believed remains a tool to deal with offenders in the state, especially at the family court.
According to her, NAWOJ had been at the forefront of the campaign against human rights violations in the state and would synergize with the command to do more.
Ajibola then lauded the Command and its officers for being outstanding over the years, urging them to do more in service delivery to the people.