Isa Umar Gusau
16 November 2008
Maiduguri — Some 89 foreigners have through illegal means acquired Nigerian pilgrims' passports as well as hajj slots through the Borno State Pilgrims Welfare Board.
Sunday Trust gathered that the pilgrims' board has already withdrawn the hajj slots given the immigrants and allocated to some Nigerians anxious to secure slots.
The immigrants were suspected to have crossed into Nigeria without proper documentation and were said have paid hajj fares mostly through Jere local government area of the state after which the pilgrims' board allocated them hajj slots and facilitated the acquisition of Nigerian pilgrims' passports for them through the Nigerian Immigration Service, Borno command.
Several efforts to get comments from the pilgrims' board failed as the Executive Secretary of the board, who alone speaks with the press was said to be holding a crucial meeting when our correspondent visited the board's office yesterday in Maiduguri.
The state's comptroller of immigration, Mohammed Sambo Gwandu confirmed the development to Sunday Trust yesterday describing it as very unfortunate.
He noted that his command discovered the 89 immigrants through a physical screening exercise embarked upon by the command on the intending pilgrims.
Gwandu said the immigration would not prosecute the foreigners if arrested noting that it was a very serious issue for none Nigerians to acquire Nigerian passports not to talk of traveling out of the country and posing as Nigerians.
He noted that where any of such foreigners commited any crime, he or she would give a very bad impression on the country.
Gwandu said the passports would not have been issued to the immigrants if the process were not facilitated by the pilgrims' board.
He noted that the immigration office would not have issued the passports if the foreigners had applied for normal international passports especially the e-passport which requires physical presence of applicants for biometric data and facial capture, noting that the officers would have been able to identify the immigrants at that level.
He maintained that even though the pilgrims' board submitted the photos of the immigrants, it was not easy to identify non Nigerians by pictures alone as voice and intonations needed to be observed, facial marks assessed.
The comptroller noted that his command would put up a task force that would thenceforth under take physical screening of all pilgrims at the point of boarding aircraft besides the usual screening at the airport terminal.
He said the aim was to arrest any non Nigerian found in possession of Nigeria's passport noting that only persons who acquire citizenship through laid down procedures could use Nigeria's passports.
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