Nigeria, India Partner To Check Fake Passports – Aregbesola
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Worried over the growing incidents of fake international passports within the system, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said the Federal Government will partner with its Indian counterpart to end the criminal issuance and proliferation of such fraudulent documents in the country
Ogbeni Aregbesola explained that the government has taken decisive steps towards ensuring the integrity of Nigerian passports, assuring that the opportunity to cooperate with India on the total eradication of fake Nigerian passports into India would be fully explored for the overall benefit of both countries.
Speaking when the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gangadharan Balasubramanian, visited his office in Abuja, the Minister said Nigeria would forever remain grateful to India for her support during the country’s anti-colonial struggle that led to Independence.
In a statement signed by Afonja Ajibola, Director of Press in the Ministry, Ogbeni Aregbesola pledged full cooperation with India, through the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), to effectively address and stop the activities of unscrupulous persons and syndicates engaging in fraudulent procurement of fake official Nigerian travel documents to enter India illegally.
The Minister solicited closer partnership with the Indian government through the provision of useful information and intelligence reports that will assist in unmasking those involved as well as their modus operandi with a view to getting them arrested and ensuring they face the full weight of the law.
On the issue of some arrested Indian mariners caught on a ship, and accused of illegal activities, the Minister said the Federal Government would prefer that the judicial process run its course to determine their complicity or otherwise in any crime that might have been committed against the Nigerian state.
He however added that efforts would be made at the highest levels to see if the issue could still be handled on humanitarian grounds.
