erimmy:
Mr traveller, are immigration officials also responsible for cart trolley at the airport?.

No they are not.

We complain and condemn and blame everybody.... except ourselves. What do we do about it? Nothing....except to tell others about our experience. That's why it shall continue. At least, the person sharing their experience here has takes a step in making it public and more than just words, posting the pictures of the corrupt officials. We now have phones with video and audio recorders... why don't we use it?....then follow up by taking/sending it to the mainstream media?...taking it to those in authority? ....instead if paying the bribe and going on our merry way until the next time? Change begins with us....from the bottom.

All these raking amounts to nothing !!! We all caused these together !!! I remember a case when I wanted to buy gas (petrol) while in naija some years back during scarcity. The pump attendants were collecting N200 bribe or else no selling to you ! I had been on the queue for 2 hrs..when it was my turn, I told him I won't give him a dime and if I don't buy gas here nobody will !!!! It is you fellow Nigerians that were screaming at me to give him bribe, all of them - old, young, women, men, educated , illiterate, elite..all of them on the queue were shouting give him bribe !!!! Thank God my younger brother was with me and we stood our ground !!! And when the attendants discovered we were the stubborn type, he sold to us. I SCREAMED at the crowd " You are all the people contributing to the problems of this country" ..Na since then I told myself, I am in the wrong country !
The picture of the 1985 Nigerian newspaper that said "No more power blackout" has never left my head ...30 years later 2015..you guys are still in the same problem, even worse !!! Walahi 30 years from now, your children will complain of corruption in Nigeria ! God help you all.

erimmy:

I am an immigration officer and I want to say this, and quote me.No immigration officer,no matter how greedy he/she is, can conveniently seize a passport belonging to a Nigerian without the said Nigerian committing an immigration offence.
Sometimes, some Nigerians are funny,they don't have the requisite valid travel documents which can enable them to travel abroad, yet,they would want to travel at all cost.To the ignorant folks,the passport you claim that's its yours,isn't yours.You are only a holder. The passport is an exclusive property of the Federal government of Nigeria and can be withdrawn from you at any point without prior notice if you violate it usage,and the government agency responsible for both the issuance and withdrawal is NIS.I know many Nigerians just hold passports without reading the caution note on the inside back page of it.
So my dear op,kindly ask the concerned Nigerian if her travel documents were valid at that time.As a matter of fact people beg immigration officials to collect bribe from them once they are told that they don't have valid travel documents, so in this case, might be that the passenger involved didn't have valid travel documents, yet she still wanted to travel by all means. Is the immigration staff a father Christmas?
lol, LAST DAYS PASSENGER.

I'm sorry officer, your rant about about the Federal Government owning the passport does not hold here.every human has a right to move from one point to another,the passport is just there for a form of control. Having said that, majority of issues at the airport are experienced by Legitimate travellers(mostly naive). Immigration officers should be enforcing Laws not taking travellers for fools and extorting them by dubious means. I've never travelled illegitimately but always had a poor immigration experience departing from or arriving into Nigeria.
I'll suggest that it is the officers who require a total reorientation to give travellers a pleasant experience while enforcing relevant laws.

raayah:
This is extortion point blank.
Big disgrace and embarrassment to Nigeria as a whole.
These are the first people that international travellers meet when they reach Nigeria.
First impressions are very necessary.
Why frustrate an innocent person just because of $50?

On Sunday, these officials will go to church and pay offering with stolen money and thank God. Who are they deceiving?

some of them will even go on-line to judge others yet they are not better.

One thing we should do is to report this people, note their names and location and publish them on social media and nairaland. They may not be punished but hopefully shame will catch them.

when I was leaving Nigeria years back,they collected $150 from me.
they are rogues in uniform

btoks:

I'm sorry officer, your rant about about the Federal Government owning the passport does not hold here.every human has a right to move from one point to another,the passport is just there for a form of control. Having said that, majority of issues at the airport are experienced by Legitimate travellers(mostly naive). Immigration officers should be enforcing Laws not taking travellers for fools and extorting them by dubious means. I've never travelled illegitimately but always had a poor immigration experience departing from or arriving into Nigeria.
I'll suggest that it is the officers who require a total reorientation to give travellers a pleasant experience while enforcing relevant laws.

Am sorry if you lack simple comprehension as regards my post. How dare you call my write up a rant?When you don't know anything concerning different agencies and their functions,the smartest thing you should do is to exercise some level of sense of learning and not jump into the fray as one with a psychiatric concern. That being said,I gave a professional insight into what might have happened as regards the alleged seizing of a Nigerian passport from its holder by an authorized agent of government. Yes, like you pointed out,people are free to move from one point to another,but when it comes to transborder or international movement,such freedom is greatly reduced for security reasons.Even a sitting president of a country subjects himself for scrutiny by an immigration officer at any point of entry or departure,how much less an ordinary citizen. Again, nobody can tell us what really transpired between the said traveller and the immigration officer.Now to you,whenever you travel please stop giving an officer a bribe in order to cloud his sense of judgement and report any officer that ask you part with any money especially if your documents are valid. Remember, HE THAT GIVETH BRIBE AND HE THAT TAKETH IT COMMITETH THE SAME CRIME.

erimmy:
Am sorry if you lack simple comprehension as regards my post. How dare you call my write up a rant?When you don't know anything concerning different agencies and their functions,the smartest thing you should do is to exercise some level of sense of learning and not jump into the fray as one with a psychiatric concern. That being said,I gave a professional insight into what might have happened as regards the alleged seizing of a Nigerian passport from its holder by an authorized agent of government. Yes, like you pointed out,people are free to move from one point to another,but when it comes to transborder or international movement,such freedom is greatly reduced for security reasons.Even a sitting president of a country subjects himself for scrutiny by an immigration officer at any point of entry or departure,how much less an ordinary citizen. Again, nobody can tell us what really transpired between the said traveller and the immigration officer.Now to you,whenever you travel please stop giving an officer a bribe in order to cloud his sense of judgement and report any officer that ask you part with any money especially if your documents are valid. Remember, HE THAT GIVETH BRIBE AND HE THAT TAKETH IT COMMITETH THE SAME CRIME.

I pointed to one part of your speech as a rant and you compare me to one with a psychiatric concern!!
"To the ignorant folks,the passport you claim that's its yours,isn't yours.You are only a holder. The passport is an exclusive property of the Federal government of Nigeria and can be withdrawn from you at any point without prior notice if you violate it usage,and the government agency responsible for both the issuance and withdrawal is NIS.I know many Nigerians just hold passports without reading the caution note on the inside back page of it" in the context of this thread it felt like a rant.
The fact you can state" how dare you", "ordinary citizen"shows the level of communication we're dealing with. Is a president not an ordinary citizen?!!

The fact remains that majority of immigration officers are corrupt, anecdotal evidence from this thread alone points to this fact. This is what is the main issue.Once this is sorted, travellers will get a better experience. I do understand there are some travellers that try to beat the system and they need to be dealt with not legitimate travellers

btoks:

I pointed to one part of your speech as a rant and you compare me to one with a psychiatric concern!!
"To the ignorant folks,the passport you claim that's its yours,isn't yours.You are only a holder. The passport is an exclusive property of the Federal government of Nigeria and can be withdrawn from you at any point without prior notice if you violate it usage,and the government agency responsible for both the issuance and withdrawal is NIS.I know many Nigerians just hold passports without reading the caution note on the inside back page of it" in the context of this thread it felt like a rant.
The fact you can state" how dare you", "ordinary citizen"shows the level of communication we're dealing with. Is a president not an ordinary citizen?!!

The fact remains that majority of immigration officers are corrupt, anecdotal evidence from this thread alone points to this fact. This is what is the main issue.Once this is sorted, travellers will get a better experience. I do understand there are some travellers that try to beat the system and they need to be dealt with not legitimate travellers

Mister, its rather unfortunate that you can't see things as they are professionally. You allow primordial sentiments to greatly becloud your sense of reasoning and fair judgement. When I mentioned "ordinary citizen" , I wasn't trying to reduce the personality of any citizen of this country as you implied here,but I was only trying to draw a comparison with the status of that of a President. We all know that the President has privileges, one of which being immunity from prosecution. Now tell me,which other Nigerian has this immunity apart from the President, his vice,Governor and his vice? Therefore, if a President with all the privileges still subjects himself to the rigorous interview/ interrogation by an immigration officer,then who are you that can't be interrogated? Like I said earlier,please stop bribing an officer.

I am disappointed with this officer's comment. He commented as if he does not know how his colleagues thieves in uniform behaved at the airport. Instead of him to cover his face in shame, after all, they are all shameless, no pride. On idiot approached me when coming into the country from UK last month, because he saw my luggage tagged heavy, he asked me to come and give them something because my luggage was heavy, I shouted at him and asked me to go. Minister of interior should please do something about their sordid behavior. Relevant authority do an undercover work to bring the bastards to book. They are disgrace to human kind.

kayalla:
they need to be refined. thats what they did to me when i was coming here for a job, i f**king missed my flight, they said myy ticket is one way, and i told the woman that i just got a job there and am going to resume worj there, i showed them my enployment documents everything was intact then this stupid woman wanted me to pay 5000 for because am not coming back soon. like play like play i missed my flight. greedy idiots

did you use a BTA WEN GOING U SAID ITS AN EMPLOYMENT VISA

smithsydny:
did you use a BTA WEN GOING U SAID ITS AN EMPLOYMENT VISA

no i didn't, it wasn't required since company was taking care of feeding and accommodation.

erimmy:

I am an immigration officer and I want to say this, and quote me.No immigration officer,no matter how greedy he/she is, can conveniently seize a passport belonging to a Nigerian without the said Nigerian committing an immigration offence.
Sometimes, some Nigerians are funny,they don't have the requisite valid travel documents which can enable them to travel abroad, yet,they would want to travel at all cost.To the ignorant folks,the passport you claim that's its yours,isn't yours.You are only a holder. The passport is an exclusive property of the Federal government of Nigeria and can be withdrawn from you at any point without prior notice if you violate it usage,and the government agency responsible for both the issuance and withdrawal is NIS.I know many Nigerians just hold passports without reading the caution note on the inside back page of it.
So my dear op,kindly ask the concerned Nigerian if her travel documents were valid at that time.As a matter of fact people beg immigration officials to collect bribe from them once they are told that they don't have valid travel documents, so in this case, might be that the passenger involved didn't have valid travel documents, yet she still wanted to travel by all means. Is the immigration staff a father Christmas?
lol, LAST DAYS PASSENGER.

Nonsense! I know what I face each time I pass through you people...and nada I don't give you. You are all shameless

[s]

erimmy:
Am sorry if you lack simple comprehension as regards my post. How dare you call my write up a rant?When you don't know anything concerning different agencies and their functions,the smartest thing you should do is to exercise some level of sense of learning and not jump into the fray as one with a psychiatric concern. That being said,I gave a professional insight into what might have happened as regards the alleged seizing of a Nigerian passport from its holder by an authorized agent of government. Yes, like you pointed out,people are free to move from one point to another,but when it comes to transborder or international movement,such freedom is greatly reduced for security reasons.Even a sitting president of a country subjects himself for scrutiny by an immigration officer at any point of entry or departure,how much less an ordinary citizen. Again, nobody can tell us what really transpired between the said traveller and the immigration officer.Now to you,whenever you travel please stop giving an officer a bribe in order to cloud his sense of judgement and report any officer that ask you part with any money especially if your documents are valid. Remember, HE THAT GIVETH BRIBE AND HE THAT TAKETH IT COMMITETH THE SAME CRIME. [/s]

You guys are corrupt. EOD

kayalla:


no i didn't, it wasn't required since company was taking care of feeding and accommodation.

so just the visa and debit card I guess .. thanks

smithsydny:
so just the visa and debit card I guess .. thanks

i had but no asked about that. all i had was my employment document and one way ticket

It is sad to note that this problem exists in all our airports including Abuja. However we need to hear the other side of the story before drawing conclusions. Can anyone clarify these. Currently what is the maximum amount of foreign currency you can carry when travelling out? Also must you carry your old passports when travelling with a new one?
These issues came up in my last encounter with immigration 2 months ago. The official actually threatened to stop me from boarding if l couldn't present my old passports. I told him l had never heard of such a thing but he said it's a new law/ directive. I insisted and after a while he let me go.
I advise anyone travelling to get to the airport early so as to complete immigration formalities. 2 or 3 hours before boarding is suitable. Its like they like to destabilize those who are in a hurry

The immigration collected $1000 from me during early days, pls how do i get the money back as i'm broke now

The immigration officer Erimmy missed the point completely. If someone do not have the correct travel document then they shouldn't travel. To solicit for bribe or take one when offered is damaging the image of the country and making our border porous. I have been traveling out of the country since 1978 and I have seen it all. So, please don't try to justify the shady deals of your peers. Someone must sanitize this important area. I hope we talk about our airport. It's a total disgrace to the nation. The air conditioning not working and if it was working you couldn't tell. The conveyor belt was and is still in a state of disrepair. Something must be done about this.

chitown:
The immigration officer Erim.my missed the point completely. If someone do not have the correct travel document then they shouldn't travel. To solicit for bribe or take one when offered is damaging the image of the country and making our border porous. I have been traveling out of the country since 1978 and I have seen it all. So, please don't try to justify the shady deals of your peers. Someone must sanitize this important area. I hope we talk about our airport. It's a total disgrace to the nation. The air conditioning not working and if it was working you couldn't tell. The conveyor belt was and is still in a state of disrepair. Something must be done about this.

Don't mind the guy sir, he is a complete shame to civil servants

chitown:
The immigration officer Erimmy missed the point completely. If someone do not have the correct travel document then they shouldn't travel. To solicit for bribe or take one when offered is damaging the image of the country and making our border porous. I have been traveling out of the country since 1978 and I have seen it all. So, please don't try to justify the shady deals of your peers. Someone must sanitize this important area. I hope we talk about our airport. It's a total disgrace to the nation. The air conditioning not working and if it was working you couldn't tell. The conveyor belt was and is still in a state of disrepair. Something must be done about this.

.Yes, if someone doesn't have the correct travel documents, then he shouldn't travel.But that's exactly what the officer might have done in this case,but you guys called it extortion. By the way,is it the immigration's responsibility to fix the air-conditioning and conveyor belt too?. Pls I think you should really know the core functions of the immigration service.

Sanchase:
The immigration collected $1000 from me during early days, pls how do i get the money back as i'm broke now

Just tell me its a lie...
If you are serious even if it was 20 Years ago I ready follow you look for that guy collect the money...
Guy that money can buy a plot of land in my village

Burger01:
Don't mind the guy sir, he is a complete shame to civil servants

I would not have dignified your belated view about me with a quote especially as it seems to me that you can't contribute meaningfully to the discourse.Nevertheless, for the sake of the unsuspecting nairalanders of this forum,I will ask you to shut your mouth when major security issues as regards agencies of government are discussed especially in a public forum like this ,seeing that you know nothing about the issues so discussed. Rather than resort to insults,you should really seek the help of a professional. It doesn't make any sense for you to hide under quotes or comments from other nairalanders to perpetuate your folly cum ignorance with an opaque, if not a totally shapeless amoebatic comments.Desist from swimming in a totally untested waters to avoid you exhibiting your folly in public.

erimmy:
I would not have dignified your belated view about me with a quote especially as it seems to me that you can't contribute meaningfully to the discourse.Nevertheless, for the sake of the unsuspecting nairalanders of this forum,I will ask you to shut your mouth when major security issues as regards agencies of government are discussed especially in a public forum like this ,seeing that you know nothing about the issues so discussed. Rather than resort to insults,you should really seek the help of a professional. It doesn't make any sense for you to hide under quotes or comments from other nairalanders to perpetuate your folly cum ignorance with an opaque, if not a totally shapeless amoebatic comments.Desist from swimming in a totally untested waters to avoid you exhibiting your folly in public.

Ogbeni, zap up and stop blowing unwanted showbiz grammar here. My experience with you touts and extortionists in government uniforms would portray you and the lots of your type as shameless civil servants that encourage corruption and professional indiscipline in civil service. Stop turning blind eyes to the obvious. You lots are corrupt and menace to travelers. I believe my English is simple enough for you to understand.

micfoley:
It is sad to note that this problem exists in all our airports including Abuja. However we need to hear the other side of the story before drawing conclusions. Can anyone clarify these. Currently what is the maximum amount of foreign currency you can carry when travelling out? Also must you carry your old passports when travelling with a new one?
These issues came up in my last encounter with immigration 2 months ago. The official actually threatened to stop me from boarding if l couldn't present my old passports. I told him l had never heard of such a thing but he said it's a new law/ directive. I insisted and after a while he let me go.
I advise anyone travelling to get to the airport early so as to complete immigration formalities. 2 or 3 hours before boarding is suitable. Its like they like to destabilize those who are in a hurry

Well, I can only answer on the passport issue,but for the maximum amount when travelling out, I guess you should seek the view of a customs officer if your purpose of travelling is business.But if not,I guess the immigration officer might have talked about the minimum amount and not maximum.
For having to go along with both your old and new passports, that is not necessary .However,the following instances may warrant such:
(1) If both your old and new passports have different names on them and the computer couldn't really tell who you are
(2) If there is an alteration on the new passport which might actually render it invalid and the officer was willing to wave that and still allows you to travel. (3) If you were travelling on the new passport for the first time,but you claimed to have travelled out severally and the officer needed to check your past travel records to make certain of a particular issue. (4)If in the view of the officer interviewing you,there is need for you to travel with the two passports for your own security and welfare from the immigration service of your intended country, lest they charge you for security related offences, even though you might not know it.Apart from the above scenarios, its not necessary to travel with the two

Burger01:
Nonsense! I know what I face each time I pass through you people...and nada I don't give you. You are all shameless

Agony of an unrepentant wailer.Take a chill bro

Burger01:
Ogbeni, zap up and stop blowing unwanted showbiz grammar here. My experience with you touts and extortionists in government uniforms would portray you and the lots of your type as shameless civil servants that encourage corruption and professional indiscipline in civil service. Stop turning blind eyes to the obvious. You lots are corrupt and menace to travelers. I believe my English is simple enough for you to understand.

Another misplaced priority exhibited

erimmy:
Another misplaced priority exhibited

Indeed. The message here is 'stop extorting travelers'.

Burger01:
Indeed. The message here is 'stop extorting travelers'.

Stop offering bribes to well meaning civil servants. Better still stop travelling with invalid and forged travel documents. Nigeria immigration Service will hunt you until you stop tarnishing Nigeria's image abroad with fake and incomplete travel documents.. I bet you are one of these deportees from UK .No wonder you are so pained. LAST DAYS DEPORTEE[i]

Burger01:
Indeed. The message here is 'stop extorting travelers'.

Stop offering bribes to well meaning civil servants. Better still stop travelling with invalid and forged travel documents. Nigeria immigration Service will hunt you until you stop tarnishing Nigeria's image abroad with fake and incomplete travel documents.. I bet you are one of these deportees from UK .No wonder you are so pained. LAST DAYS DEPORTEE[/i]

Burger01:
Indeed. The message here is 'stop extorting travelers'.

Stop offering bribes to well meaning civil servants. Better still stop travelling with invalid and forged travel documents. Nigeria immigration Service will hunt you until you stop tarnishing Nigeria's image abroad with fake and incomplete travel documents.. I bet you are one of these deportees from UK .No wonder you are so pained. LAST DAYS DEPORTEE

erimmy:
Stop offering bribes to well meaning civil servants. Better still stop travelling with invalid and forged travel documents. Nigeria immigration Service will hunt you until you stop tarnishing Nigeria's image abroad with fake and incomplete travel documents.. I bet you are one of these deportees from UK .No wonder you are so pained. LAST DAYS DEPORTEE

Lol. Well meaning civil servants you said! Not customs
Btw, why would a saner person with invalid traveling documents want to come near the airport...and why don't you guys refuse bribe and arrest anybody with invalid and forged documents Lol at 'Last Days Deportee'