Some personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service have decried the neglect of staff welfare despite government raking in hundreds of millions of Naira yearly.
In the same vein, some officers deployed on foreign missions have raised alarm over worsening living conditions to their places of assignment, alleging that they have been left without salaries and allowances for the past 14 months.
The staff interviewed, though chose to speak under anonymity, lamented what they described as their poor remuneration and frustration at work.
DVCInsights investigations revealed that despite what looks like a rosy picture of the Service, there are still staff earning less than the minimum wage.
Our findings revealed that there are staff who earn N65,000 monthly, which is less that the Federal Government approved N70,000 minimum wage.
The staff also decried the recent increase in the cost of standard passport from N50,000 to N100,000 from September 1, 2025 without adequate notice.
Some of them confessed that they make little earnings helping people process their passports, but regretted that it would be difficult for prospective clients settling them now.
The latest increase they said ‘is the fourth since this government came on board, yet it has not translated to better welfare for staff of the service’.
Meanwhile, those on foreign missions have called on government to remember them alleging that the last payment they received was in June 2024, leaving them stranded in foreign countries where they say survival depends solely on regular wages.
Lamenting their plights in Jos, Plateau State, one of the affected officers who didn’t want to be named said, “We are owed about 14 months salaries and other allowances now. The last time I received a single payment was June 2024. Life is hard in a very expensive country where I was posted.”Ads by
“It will interest you to know that there are about five MDAs at the foreign mission sent by the federal government. None of these agencies are owed more than three months but only Immigration Services, yet we are generating revenue both directly and indirectly to the government apart from the security of the country,” another officer lamented.
The officers said many of them have been forced to send their families back to Nigeria due to the inability to feed them abroad. Others have resorted to calling relatives at home for financial support.
Another officer revealed, “Now we are in a serious dilemma, and we cannot complain, neither can we report or voice out, because that will amount to indiscipline. But as we continue keeping quiet, we are dying silently, and worse still we are sending a very wrong and dangerous signal that all is well with us, while it is not.”
Regardless of all this, they unanimously stated that a good thing is that the Immigration officers on mission abroad have been maintaining good discipline, good work ethics and integrity, and one hardly sees any report of extortions, shoddy deals or misconduct from the officers.
Meanwhile, the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, AS Akinlabi, when contacted, described the issue as “an internal issue,” and assured that “the Service is working on resolving. Very soon, they will have no cause to complain because the Service is resolving it.”
While Nigerians are complaining about the incessant increase in the price of passport, the staff,both those at home and on foreign missions, are also complaining of poor welfare package .
