Immigration service launches temporary passport for Nigerians abroad

NIGERIANS abroad wishing to return home but without national passport will now have to make do with a temporary passport.

This was made known by the Federal Government, yesterday.

The Federal noted that it replaced the emergency travel certificate with the temporary passport for security reasons.

According to the government, the temporary passport, which is a new genre of travel document, will be issued at the Nigerian Embassies across the globe.

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, inaugurated the temporary passport at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, Abuja on yesterday.

According to a statement by the NIS spokesman, Sunday James, titled, ‘Nigeria Immigration Service launches the Nigerian Temporary Passport,’ the minister stated that the temporary passport was designed for a one-way travel to Nigeria only and that the new document replaces the hitherto Emergency Travel Certificate which was issued to Nigerians in emergency situations for the purpose of returning home.

‘’He maintained that the temporary passport is ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) compliant and is valid for only 30 days before the date of travel and it is not in any way a replacement for the Nigerian passport as it will only serve a temporary purpose in the case of loss or misplacement of the Nigerian passport by a Nigerian abroad,’’ the statement noted.

Explaining while the replacement became necessary, the Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Mohammed Babandeded said that  the replaced ETC was a huge security threat to Nigeria and the global community “because it was an ordinary paper devoid of necessary security features of a travel document.’’

He noted that the TP has a chip and surface personalization which is an enhancement of the Electronic Passport Management System.