The Nigeria Immigration Service recorded an unprecedented breakthrough by the automation and integration of its system for the monitoring of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTDs) with INTERPOL Global System (IPSG) in Lyon, France and successfully completed the automation and integration of the tool on Monday, September 7, 2020.
According to a statement by DCI Sunday James, the Service Public Relations Officer, Nigeria uploaded 150,000 SLTD to the INTERPOL database, which “makes Nigeria the first ranking in Africa and 54th in the world according to INTERPOL POLICE GLOBAL SYSTEM (IPSG) ranking”.
James further said that Nigeria is today the first and only African country to have fully automated its Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database.
He explained that this success was achieved with the immense support of the INTERPOL Global System (IPSG), United States National Central Bureau (USNCB) Washington, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and National Central Bureau (NCB) of the Nigerian Police Force. Abuja.
“The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, while appreciating the support of the agencies that made the automation and integration successful, said that it will go a long way in curbing identity theft and use of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents by criminal elements seeking to hide their identities to cross national borders and engage in illicit activities worldwide.
“By this development, Nigerians are advised to desist from using fake, altered, invalidated, withdrawn, stolen and lost travel documents since they are automatically made available to 194 member countries of INTERPOL,” said the statement.
In recent times, James added, some Nigerians have been intercepted in some Airports around the world for using passports, which they earlier reported lost or stolen.
“The Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, therefore, warns holders of the Nigerian passport not to use such re-issued passport anywhere in the world as failure will lead to arrest and prosecution”.
