The Federal Government on Tuesday introduced a new temporary passport for Nigerians abroad to replace the emergency travel certificate for security reasons.
The temporary passport is a new type of travel document that will be issued to Nigerians at the Embassies abroad for those wishing to return home but whose national passport are not available.
The temporary passport was inaugurated by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Aregbesola said the temporary passport is an electronic document with all the features of a regular passport and is designed for a one-way travel to Nigeria only.
Sunday James, the spokesman of the Nigeria Immigration Service, in a statement titled, ‘Nigeria Immigration Service launches the Nigerian Temporary Passport,’ said the new document replaces the hitherto Emergency Travel Certificate which was issued to Nigerians in emergency situations for the purpose of returning home.
Part of the statement said, “He maintained that the temporary passport is ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) compliant and is valid for only 30 days before the date of travel and it is not in any way a replacement for the Nigerian passport as it will only serve a temporary purpose in the case of loss or misplacement of the Nigerian passport by a Nigerian abroad.’’
The Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Muhammad Babandede, also said the former ETC was a huge security threat to Nigeria and the global community “because it was an ordinary paper devoid of necessary security features of a travel document.’’
Babandede added that the new temporary passport has a chip and surface personalization which is an enhancement of the Electronic Passport Management System.
