THE Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has dismantled a transnational organised crime syndicate linked to the QNET/IGNITE network, arresting 12 suspects, including its alleged leader, and rescuing two victims in coordinated operations in Lagos State.
NIS’s Public Relations Officer, Akinsola Akinlabi, a Deputy Comptroller of Immigration (DCI), who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the operation was carried out following actionable intelligence on the activities of trafficking syndicates operating within the state.
He identified the alleged syndicate leader as Ouattra Adama, a Burkinabe national, who was arrested alongside 11 suspected facilitators, comprising eight Liberian nationals and three Camerounian nationals.
Akinlabi stated that the operation also led to the rescue of two Liberian nationals believed to have fallen victim to the syndicate’s illegal activities, while the 12 suspects and the two victims have been transferred to the Service headquarters for further investigation and necessary legal action.
He described the QNET/IGNITE network as a transnational organised criminal syndicate involved in fraudulent employment and business schemes that were closely linked to irregular migration, urging the public to verify all offers relating to employment, education, business and migration through the appropriate authorities before making financial commitments or embarking on international travel.
Akinlabi said the arrest of the syndicate leader and other facilitators demonstrates the Service’s commitment to intelligence-driven border management and the fight against transnational organised crime and underscores NIS’ resolve to rid Nigeria of all forms of irregular migration and transnational organised crimes.
He said investigations were ongoing to identify other members of the criminal network and possible victims across the country, reiterating the Service’s commitment to strengthening border security, combating human trafficking and dismantling criminal networks that exploit vulnerable persons through deceptive migration, employment and business schemes.
Meanwhile, Akinlabi has clarified that the centralisation of passport production does not affect passport processing and issuance nationwide or at foreign missions, saying the reform followed public enquiries and misconceptions arising from the phased migration of passport production to its headquarters in Abuja.
He explained that the initiative was an operational reform under a broader modernisation programme to strengthen passport security, integrity and efficiency, adding that passport offices nationwide and designated Nigerian embassies and consulates would continue receiving applications, processing requests and issuing passports without interruption, as only passport booklet printing and security personalisation have been consolidated at the Central Personalisation Centre in Abuja to improve efficiency and strengthen the security of the production process.
Akinlabi stated that the Service adopted a five-phase migration plan to minimise operational risks and ensure seamless implementation, with the first phase, completed in January last year, covering seven passport offices in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi, Borno and Yobe states, bringing the total number of migrated centres to 37, as well as 30 foreign missions across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.
The second phase, completed in March this year, covered 12 passport offices in the Southeast, parts of Southwest and the Federal capital territory (FCT), as well as Nigerian missions in Europe, bringing the total number of centres involved to 17, while the third phase, completed in June this year, involved 17 passport offices across the South-South, Northwest and Southwest zones, as well as five European missions, bringing the total to 22 centres.
He said the fourth phase, scheduled for this month, would onboard 10 additional passport offices across several states, such as Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Kano, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa, while the fifth and final phase would be completed in the last quarter of this year, to cover five passport offices in Lagos State and designated missions in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and Canada.
He restated that all passport booklet printing and security personalisation were consolidated within a secure production hub at headquarters to ensure passports were produced and dispatched within two weeks to offices and designated foreign missions, thereby eliminating manual intervention in the personalisation process and removing opportunities for document arbitrage.
Akinlabi stated that the reform would strengthen accountability and guarantee uniform quality standards with advanced security features in every passport, advising applicants to continue accessing services through their preferred passport offices, as operations remained fully functional.
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