The Consulate General of Nigeria in New York, Ambassador Lot Egopija has revealed that no fewer than 1,328 passports manufactured at the mission have not been collected.
While talking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York, Egopija said that the passports were part the backlogs cleared but they were yet to be collected by the applicants.
He said clearing of the backlogs was in line with the directive given by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
According to him, the backlogs were much due to the shutdown of the Consulate from March 2020 owing to COVID-19 pandemic and the skeletal services that were rendered at the mission after phased resumption of activities.
He said: “You recall that last year (2020), at the heart of COVID, the Consulate had gone for passport intervention in the past, in 2019 and all that.
“And they have not produced these passports due to one reason or the other but that has been done now; we need to tell those whose biometrics have been done to come and collect their passports.
“Another group of people were those who came into the Consulate and did their biometrics but due to scarcity of some materials, they were not able to get their passports.
“They were not able to get their passports produced as at the time they were asked to come for it; so, these are part of it.
“And in line with the immigration authorities, decision to produce all passports that have been applied for and biometrics taken, we are also cleaning up; all the missions have been told to do same.’’
Egopija said the Consulate was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that passports that had been issued got to the owners.
He said applicants living far away from New York should not bother traveling down to the mission to collect their passports.
He said: “All they (applicants outside New York area) need to do is to send self-addressed envelopes that will tally with the addresses they gave to us when they did those passports in that wise.
“We will get to them but for few that have come in here; we ascertain if they are collecting their passports so that it will not get into wrong hands.
“For those who may not have access to the website, we have also done a WhatsApp group and will also be forwarding it to all the associations that are registered with the mission.
“These associations will in turn inform their members who are affected to come forward for their passports.
“We are trying to ensure that every Nigerian who has applied and has his or her biometrics captured gets his or her passport.
Egopija made it known that the consulate had dedicated between 3 p.m and 4 p.m everyday for collection of passports so that the daily routine in the mission would not be affected and that the response of the applicants to the collection had so far been good
He said: “We are beginning to receive people coming forward to collect.’’
