President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the suspension of the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, David Shikfu Parradang, over the granting of visa to the terrorist ISIS leader Ahmed Al Assir. However, a Presidency source hinted that more cleansing would be done on the Immigration hierarchy to address the culture of bribery for visa and passport inherent in the service. The President was said to have been miffed by the scam in which a notorious terrorist was handed down a Nigerian visa.
But there were indications that the visa may have been forged by the international network of persons working in cahoots with the terrorists who specialize in forging documents including passports and visa.
The suspension of Parradang was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Press in the Ministry of Interior, Isiaka Yusuf and made available to the media.
Mr. Parradang was asked to immediately proceed on suspension while the service’s deputy comptroller general, Martin Kure Abeshi was directed to assume the reins of leadership.
Although no reason was advanced for his sudden suspension, reports that a chieftain of the Islamic State ,IS, Ahmed Al Assir was granted a Nigerian visa in Lebanon, may have prompted the action.
Al Assir was said to have been arrested at an airport in Lebanon while on his way to Nigeria through Egypt.
Reports however revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the issuance of visa to the wanted terrorist who has been on the global terror watch-list.
The Lebanese judiciary has accused him of involvement in the death of 17 Lebanese solders and sentenced him to death.
The Nigeria Immigration Service had before now received perpetual knocks for its poor handling of the issuance of passports to Nigerians, a situation which often saw foreigners holding valid Nigerian passports.
A competent foreign ministry official said immigration officers, popularly called Entry Clearance Officers, are often attached to embassies for the purposes of spotting people with questionable credentials and consequently barring them at the point of entry.
The service which came under knocks after last year’s botched recruitment exercise in which at least 15 applicants died had recently said between January and March this year, it refused no fewer than 12,152 foreigners entry into Nigeria because they had no genuine reasons for visiting the country. No one has been punished since the deaths of the applicants.
The immigration boss was said to be making frantic efforts to save his neck before his sudden removal.
