The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Niger state, Samuel Nongo, has dismissed claims of scarcity of International Passport booklets in the state.
He said 5683 applicants got the traveling documents within the last four months.
Nongo stated this on Wednesday in an interactive session with Journalists in his office.
He said that the service also issued another 3,000 passports to pilgrims from Niger state who participated in this year’s hajj to Saudi Arabia.
He said the processing of 500 applications for international passports earlier delayed by the hajj operations, would now receive speeding attention.
He said it takes only six weeks for applicants to get new passports while renewal of existing passports takes a period of three weeks.
Nongo added that the procedures for issuance of international passports has been sanitised and computerised to eliminate human errors.
He said, “Human interface has been minimised from time to time to avoid hindrances and ensure transparent transactions in the system. For instance, applicants now register on line and also carry out all financial transactions on line.”
He said the service has ensured effective monitoring patrols of the state border areas to curb influx of illegal aliens into the state.