Metro
NIS Holds Capacity Building Training for Newly Deployed Passport Control Officers
The Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola has declared a Two-Day Capacity Building Workshop for newly posted Passport Control Officers (PCOs) at the Service Headquarters, Abuja.
The Workshop with the theme “Effective and Efficient Service Delivery: An Imperative for Maximizing the Gains of the Passport Reforms toward a Seamless Passport Issuance Process”, is aimed at familiarizing the newly deployed heads of Passport Offices across the country with the basic operational knowledge of the electronic Passport environment.
A statement by the Service’s Public Relations Officer quoted the Minister as urging participants to utilize the opportunity offered by the training to acquaint themselves with all aspects of the workings of the electronic Passport to enable them acquire the required competence for enhanced productivity in their Stations.
The Minister remarked that as the main drivers of the ongoing Passport reform efforts, PCOs should be well grounded in Passport operations to enable them to regularly demonstrate the needed technical and leadership skills for improved service delivery across all the Passport Issuing Centres. This he noted shall be exposed to them during the workshop and thus called for maximum concentration to the lectures to be delivered by the resource persons.
He assured that government shall continue to provide innovations that would evolve a seamless Passport application and processing system to not only restore and sustain the integrity of the process but also ensure that the national Passport is issued to only eligible citizens. He therefore called on the PCOs to regularly exercise due diligence in screening and vetting of source documents to ensuring that the national Passport which is the highest symbol of nationality does not get into the hands of non-citizens.
He commended the management of the Service for the efforts made so far on Passport operations which have resulted in the issuance of about Three Million Booklets since 2019 to date despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister while assuring that any Personnel caught to be involved in frustrating the ongoing reforms to deliver an efficient Passport system shall be severely sanctioned also promised that the operating conditions of many Passport locations shall improve very soon.
In his remarks, the acting Comptroller General Isah Jere Idris stated that the Service will continue to sustain and improve on its commitment to training and retraining activities for its personnel with a view to deepening their competences for acceptable service delivery. He maintained that the burden of carrying an untrained or poorly trained workforce is enormous particularly for a technology-driven agency such as NIS. He further stressed that there was no better time to organize training programmes for the PCOs than now considering the ongoing project of migrating the current electronic Passport structure to the enhanced electronic Passport regime which of course requires a huge deployment of ICT infrastructure.
The acting Comptroller General recalled that upon assumption of Office last year September, he embarked on the exercise of clearance of backlog of Passport applications in various Passport issuance Centres. The effort he said “has resulted in the clearance of all backlogs of applications in the South West geopolitical zone and parts of the North Central especially in the Centres that have migrated to the enhanced electronic Passport regime. Similar exercise was carried out in the South East recently leading to about 80% success rate while efforts are being made to attain a 100% production and issuance across the Centres.
During the two-day workshop slated for the 12th-13th April 2022, the participants shall receive lectures on the role of ICT in Passport administration and issuance, expositions on modern skills in leadership as well as the primacy of customer satisfaction in service delivery among others. Participants at the workshop include all the Forty-five (45) Passport Control Officers who were deployed across the States following a Staff Posting Order that was released last Month.
Tragedy struck in the Ogbunabali area of Port Harcourt after a vehicle reportedly crashed into a residential compound along the Eastern Bypass, killing three children belonging to the same family and leaving others injured.
The bereaved mother, Amarachi Promise-Amadi, is now demanding justice over the death of her children, alleging reckless driving and negligence in the handling of the victims after the incident.
The fatal crash, which occurred around 8:30pm on May 15, reportedly happened when a car veered off the road and rammed into the family’s residence, where the children were gathered outside the compound.
Speaking on Wednesday with journalists amid tears and grief, Promise-Amadi said she had briefly stepped out to answer a phone call moments before the tragedy occurred.
According to her, the victims included her three children aged 3, 4 and 10 years, who died as a result of injuries sustained during the impact. She added that her domestic staff and another daughter also sustained serious injuries in the crash.
The distraught mother alleged that the vehicle involved in the incident was occupied by a young man and his girlfriend, claiming that the latter was being taught how to drive when the accident occurred.
She described the incident as avoidable and accused the occupants of reckless conduct that led to the loss of innocent lives.
Promise-Amadi further alleged that immediately after the crash, the female driver and her boyfriend attempted to flee the scene but were stopped by residents and members of the community who gathered in the area following the loud impact.
According to her, the intervention of residents prevented the suspects from escaping before security operatives later arrived at the scene.
The grieving mother also accused medical personnel at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital and other health facilities of negligence, alleging that the injured victims were denied prompt emergency medical attention after they were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
She claimed that delays in medical response worsened the condition of the injured survivors, adding that the family had to struggle to secure urgent care during the critical moments following the crash.
Promise-Amadi called on the Rivers State Police Command to carry out a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
She urged the authorities to ensure that all those responsible are prosecuted in accordance with the law, stressing that justice must be served for her deceased children.
“I want justice for my children. They were innocent and did nothing wrong. The matter should not be swept under the carpet,” she said emotionally.
Residents of the Ogbunabali community who witnessed the aftermath of the incident described the scene as horrific, saying the crash caused panic and confusion in the neighbourhood.
Some residents blamed excessive speeding and reckless driving along the busy Eastern Bypass corridor, calling on authorities to strengthen traffic enforcement and road safety measures in the area to prevent future tragedies.
As of the time of filing this report, the Rivers State Government, as well as the State Police Command, had yet to issue an official statement on the incident or confirm whether any arrests had been formally made in connection with the case.
The Federal government has suspended the planned closure of Eko Bridge in Lagos State.
The Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, disclosed this during an inspection of the bridge on Tuesday.
He said: “We directed that this bridge be closed. That was about two weeks back, … but our caring President Bola Tinubu is very much concerned about the closure of this Eko Bridge.
“He has asked me to come back here and take a second look at that decision so that we don’t induce much hardship on Nigerians.”
The minister said his team re-assessed the strength of the bridge on Monday, and confirmed that the closure could be suspended at the moment.
“We have done our technical evaluation in line with the president’s directive.
“Putting safety over and above every decision, we have seen that, for now, we are safe, but we won’t get to any situation that any Nigerian on this bridge will not be safe.
“We have agreed on three procedures,” Umahi added.
According to him, the first procedure is not to close the bridge now but monitor the progression or otherwise of the crack.
He said that the crack is not progressing either arithmetically or geometrically at the moment.
“No progression so far. We are comfortable, but crack can occur anytime. I will return here to reassess it,” he stated.
The minister, however, also said there would be remedial work on the bridge.
Metro
Security Expert Hails Ribadu’s Talks with Vance, Rubio As Positive Devt in Counter-Terrorism Fight
The visit by Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu to the United States where he held talks with Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has been described as a positive development for Nigeria’s fight against terrorism.
A security analyst and columnist, Jas Keita, in a statement says that the meeting underscores the importance of the Nigerian/U. S security relationship.
According to her, the meeting comes at an important time for Nigeria as it seeks to defeat terrorist groups that are seeking to undermine the government, destroying lives and livelihoods across the country.
The statement reads in part: “Security cooperation between the United States and Nigeria were central to these discussions. This comes against the backdrop of escalating terrorist activity in Nigeria. Two weeks ago, ISIS militants killed at least 29 people in an attack in Guyaku, a village in Adamawa state, while Boko Haram killed 11 people during a raid on a village in Borno State. This escalation of violence and destruction poses a serious threat to the social and economic stability of Nigeria. Nigeria must do all it can to destroy the ability and operational capacity of groups such as ISIS or Boko Haram to wage war against its people.
“Despite widespread commentary, driven often by foreign actors, the United States has remained a steadfast ally to Nigeria in its determination to destroy those groups who seek to destroy Nigeria. While some commentators seek to criticise the government for such visits, it’s clear that ordinary people whose lives and livelihoods are being destroyed by these groups, want to see immediate, urgent and effective action against these groups. Working with the United States to empower Nigerian Security forces is the quickest and most effective way to this result.
“Of course, people will remember the 2025 Christmas day strikes where the U.S working with Nigerian security forces undertook a series of attacks against these terrorist groups. But that cooperation continued in the months following the attack. In February, a team of U.S. Special Forces personnel were deployed on the ground. Their mission was to provide direct technical and information support to Nigerian security forces. As well as training support, they have provided invaluable technical and strategic insight developed over decades of providing similar support across the globe.
“This type of support cannot be underestimated. To see a contrast, one simply needs to look at events in Mali and the failure of Russia’s assistance to the government there. Empowering our security forces, ensuring they have the skills and insights is a critical element to ensuring we defeat terrorist groups.
“One of the strands of commentary after the Christmas day strikes was if we even needed American support. Put simply, yes, we are facing a substantial threat from these terrorist groups. They are well armed, well organised and well financed. They are committed to destroying the legitimately elected government and imposing their own vision on our country. They have shown time and time again they have no interest in the welfare of our people, rather they will kill anyone who disagrees with them or simply is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Nigeria is facing an existential threat from these terrorist groups. They do not care about our way of life or the welfare of our people. Nigeria cannot become prosperous unless it rids itself of these terrorist organisations. The ongoing security crisis creates an environment of instability and fear that means our people cannot expect to thrive. Nigeria has a prosperous economic future ahead and can create a brighter future for all its people, but this cannot happen without a stable and secure foundation. Defeating these groups not only protects the lives of our families but allows Nigeria to build a brighter economic future for all.
“That is why these talks in Washington are so vital. Our country has a strong and committed ally in the United States. Despite what other foreign actors say, they have shown time and time again their willingness to expend resources to support our fight against terrorism. Strengthening and deepening this relationship must be a key strategic priority for our government and we must ensure it endures. Doing so, will ensure our own people have the skills, insights and resources to defeat these groups. Doing so, will provide the stability that will underpin our future economic and social growth.”
