The moment I applied for my international passport via the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) website in January 2024, I signed up for a frustration-laden journey.

In an earlier report, where I documented my experiences right from when I commenced the application to when I could not capture due to a purported network issue at the Ilesa immigration office despite having booked an appointment ahead, you will find that it wasn’t a walk in the park for me.

I wouldn’t have gone the self-application route if Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, had not given the assurance via a post on X on January 8 that Nigerians could now apply for their international passports from the comfort of their homes via the automated application process.

Denying that many Nigerians have had glowing remarks about the automation, such as the ease of online application, not having to pay extra money for fast-tracking and getting their passports within a few days or weeks of application, would make me a hypocrite. In the same manner, trivialising my experience and that of other Nigerians who have been extorted and unduly delayed in some centres would be unfair.

READ ALSO: REPORTER’S DIARY: I Applied for Int’l Passport Online, But Biometric Capture Was Impossible Due to ‘Network Issue’

NETWORK ISSUES FOILED MY BIOMETRIC CAPTURE IN JANUARY

I left Lagos for Ilesa for my biometric capture in January, but on getting to the passport office, the officials said they had network issues. After spending almost nine hours there on January 25, I left, but not without submitting my documents to a female official who took them with obvious reluctance.

When I returned the following day, some officers told me in confidence that I would waste my time just like the previous day. So, I returned to Lagos. However, before I did, I got the contact details of a worker and an agent at the passport office.

During my conversation with them in the coming days, their feedback on the network issue was the same. But I got some good news on February 12: the network had been restored and I could travel to Ilesa for the biometric capture.

READ ALSO: Immigration Headquarters Abandons 78-Year-Old’s Passport Request for Failing To Pay N15,000 Bribe

EXTORTION DISGUISED AS ADMINISTRATIVE FEES

There are no two words for extortion. But my next visit to Ilesa immigration office on March 4 taught me that extortion has different names, and it could disguised as administrative fees.

I was at the office before 9 am, and as I got into the compound, I had to write down my name as the few other people before me did. My name was among the first 10 names on the booklet provided for passport applicants. Only those who came for biometric capture had their names written down.

My once-dead hope was slightly rekindled because the last time I was there in January, we were not asked to write names. But the little hope I had was short-lived.

Around 9:35 am, a man who seemed like a high-ranking immigration officer addressed us under the pavilion, where I and others were seated. The name tag on his chest displayed the words ‘Ba Achike’.

“We have 17 names here on the list, which we will take to our computer. We will type the names on the system to identify applicants whose information has dropped. If yours has dropped, we will come and call you so that you can go for capturing. For those whose names may not be called, this does not mean we will not call you. As soon as your information drops, we will come and call you,” he told us.

Less than 10 minutes after his address, another immigration officer returned with the paper with the list of names. As he called out the names of people, mine was omitted. “Well, maybe my information has not dropped,” I said to myself.

I stayed put and watched as more people arrived and penned their names in one of the papers on the table. But when the officer returned to call more names, I became worried. The time was about 10 am, and several people who came after me had been called in.

Then I engaged fellow applicants in a conversation, and it became obvious to me that many of them were not self applicants like me. They either knew an agent or an officer whose connection would be beneficial to them.

At that juncture, my anger was of no use. So, around 11:17 am, I reached out to the man whose update on the rectified network issue made me travel. Within minutes, I was inside his office, where I met a lady who was there to apply for her passport.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Passport Ranked 50th in Africa

N6,000 FOR BIOMETRIC CAPTURE, N5,000 FOR FAST-TRACKING

Before I travelled, I had interacted with someone on social media, whose parents had had to pay extra N10,000 each at the Ilesa immigration office to be captured for their passport renewal. This person told me that he applied for his parents’ passport renewal online and they got their passports within weeks of capturing, after they had parted with a total of N20,000.

With this in mind, I knew I might have to pay at some point, but what shocked me was the basis for the payment. When I got to the contact person’s office, he made me understand that self-applicants were not taken seriously in Ilesa passport office.

“They don’t take online applicants and online applications seriously here,” he said.

When I asked if there was anything I could do to get it over with, he told me that there were administrative charges often collected from applicants. The administrative charges, according to him, would cost me N6,000.

He claimed that the administrative charges were used to run the daily operations at the passport office, such as buying fuel. I was surprised to hear this, considering that the approved 2024 budget shows that N169.1 billion was allocated to the immigration service out of the N471 billion allocated to the ministry of interior.

Additional checks through the budget of the NIS revealed that N465 million was allocated for fuel and lubricants in 2024, while N1 billion was approved for miscellaneous expenses, including welfare packages, honorariums, sitting allowances, refreshment and meals, and advertisements, among others.

The moment I showed interest in paying the N6,000 administrative charge, they also showed interest in locating my filed documents. Apparently, documents submitted by self applicants are often separated from the files of those who apply through an agent or an immigration officer.

At exactly 12:26 pm, I got an email from the NIS, saying my passport application had been approved. They were still trying to locate the documents I submitted previously at this point, as disclosed by the man. He later told me that my file had been located and was in enrollment. A few minutes after 1 pm, I transferred N6,000 to the personal bank account details he provided.

While I awaited the biometric capture, which was my main reason for being there, the man would then tell me that I could pay another N5,000 if I was interested in fast-tracking the passport production.

He even said I could get the passport that Monday if I was willing to pay an additional N3,000 but this could only happen if my passport booklet was 64 pages and not 32. I did not get my passport that day because I applied for the standard passport, which is 32 pages. He told me they had no 32-page booklets for production.

I eventually did my biometric capture around 1:40 pm, and within minutes I was done with that. I returned to the man’s office, and he promised to notify me once passport booklets were available. I left the passport office before 3 pm.

N5,000 FOR FAST-TRACKING: WHAT’S THE POINT?

Two weeks later, the man had some good news for me: 32-page passport booklets were available. I asked him when I was likely going to get my passport, and he said I could get it the following day if I paid N5,000 to accelerate the production process.

Also, according to him, it would take two to three weeks to get my passport if I did not pay the money. I chose the former and paid N5,000 on March 26.

After I made the payment, the excuses started. First, he said they were searching for my file and it was taking time. Then he told me that he would get the file “provided oga still gives us the opportunity to submit lists”. I would later learn from him around 3.25 pm that his boss, the oga, had stopped the collection of lists.

When I asked why, he said, “I think that was the number he wanted, probably for today. When next is what I can’t say, because they just rushed us this morning.”

I kept sending him messages every now and then. At some point, he told me that the delay was because of the scarcity of the 32-page passport booklet. Then on April 24, he sent a snapshot of my international passport. Days later, I paid him to help arrange for the passport to be sent to me via road transport.

The passport I applied for via the automated process in January was issued on April 24, 2024. Was it seamless, as vowed by the minister of interior? No! Can the entire process be improved? Yes.