Bribery, Chaos, Mar Nigerian Embassy Passport Renewal Exercise In Toronto

Source: THEWILL. - thewillnigeria.com
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PHOTO: NIGERIANS RESIDENT IN THE TORONTO AREA OF CANADA ARE LEFT WAITING ENDLESSLY INSIDE THE VENUE OF THE IMMIGRATION EXERCISE.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 13, (THEWILL) – Nigerian residents of Toronto, Canada were subjected to untold hardship during a mobile Nigerian Consulate Service exercise where Nigerians in the Toronto area were scheduled to renew travel passports, obtain the new biometric passport and receive other immigration services.


The exercise held from December 4th –December 5th 2010.


The event THEWILL gathered was characterized by bribery, chaos and disenchantment, which led to confrontations between attendees and Nigerian Embassy officials. The Toronto Police Department arrived the venue to ensure the chaos did not escalate into a big fight. A source at the event said the exercise was as unorganized as you can get following the plan by embassy officials to exploit the chaos to receive bribes from Nigerians who wanted to get served ahead of others.


“We were kept waiting endlessly, the organization was very chaotic, officials shouted down and tried to intimidate anybody who had guts to ask questions. The police were called in when tempers were high,” the source, a participant told THEWILL.


Checks however revealed that the only travel passport making equipment at the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, had broken down over eight months ago without any concrete plan to procure a replacement or get it repaired.


The High Commission’s inability to repair the equipment has remained a nightmare for Nigerian residents in Canada seeking new travel passports.

A similar mobile consular service was organized in March, this year and many participants are yet to receive their new travel passports, THEWILL gathered from multiple sources.


Several calls to the Nigerian High Commission in Canada were not acknowledged.