Bribery: FAAN Bans Immigration Officers From Airports

The Federal Airports Authority Of Nigeria, FAAN, has banned two Immigration Officers from operating at any Airport in Nigeria. Consequently, their On-duty cards have been withdrawn.

The ban followed the investigation of a tweet by a mother whose 14-year old daughter, who was travelling out of the country, on Qater Airline, on February 19, 2022, was extorted to the tune of eight thousand Naira, by the two Immigration Officers.

An investigation carried out by FAAN, with the help of a CCTV and absolute cooperation from NIS, confirmed the incident to be true.

A release by Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, Ag General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, said the sum of money has been retrieved from the officers.

Following, the full text of the release

RE: ALLEGATION OF EXTORTION OF PASSENGER AT MMA

Following a tweeted allegation on the 19th February, 2022 by the mother of a 14year old girl travelling on Qatar Airline that two officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service extorted the sum of eight thousand naira from her daughter, a team of FAAN Aviation Security officers were commissioned to investigate the allegation.

Upon investigation, they found the allegation to be true, as the officers involved were identified with the help of footages on our CCTV facility, and the cooperation from the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Consequently, the officers were made to refund the exact amount collected from the passenger.

Their On Duty Cards were also withdrawn permanently, and they have been banned from working in any Nigerian airport, to serve as a deterrent to others.

We would like to commend the mother of the child, who has confirmed receipt of the money, for deeming it fit to escalate the case, and assisting us tremendously in the course of our investigation.

Also, we would like to express our appreciation to the Comptroller of Immigration, MMA and her team for her cooperation and support in addressing this issue.

The Authority will continue to identify and sanction any airport official (including FAAN officials) found to be extorting passengers or perpetuating any act of illegality at our airports.