The Nigerian Union in South Africa (NUSA) has asked Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg to scrap the R2000 (about N54,000) imposed for the replacement of lost passport by the embassy.
In an open letter to Nigeria’s Consul General in South Africa, Mr Abdulmalik Ahmed, NUSA also urged the mission to stop collection of R120 (about N4,000) passport capturing fees from applicants.
The letter, signed by Collins Mgbo, Head of NUSA Secretariat, said that the additional fees was “inflicting excruciating pains on our compatriots whose passports were stolen, lost, damaged, or misplaced.
“There is no justification whatsoever to this premeditated hardship inflicted on the people.”
NUSA said that the policies defeated the purpose for which the diplomatic missions were established, one of which was catering for the interest of compatriots.
“We demand that the time frame for passport renewal and replacement should not be more than one month.
“This is because the avoidable delay makes corruption inevitable as applicants would be desperate to get their traveling documents on time in order to apply for, or renew their immigration documents.
“It is imperative to add that if these demands are not met, we shall be left with no options than to embark on necessary action both at the consulate in Johannesburg and in Nigeria,” NUSA said. (NAN)
