The Nigeria Immigration Service has announced plans to introduce a new Single Travel Emergency Passport for Nigerians stranded overseas.
This new document will replace the existing Emergency Travel Certificate and provide an easier and more secure way for citizens to return to the country when faced with passport issues abroad.
The Comptroller General of Immigration, Kemi Nanna Nandap, revealed the development during a Joint Thematic Meeting of the Khartoum, Rabat and Niamey Processes, co-hosted by Nigeria and France. She explained that the initiative is part of ongoing reforms aimed at improving identity management and border control systems to meet modern global standards.
In a statement released by the Service’s spokesperson, Akinsola Akinlabi, the Immigration boss said the new document would serve as a temporary travel solution. “The forthcoming Single Travel Emergency Passport will serve as a temporary travel document for Nigerians abroad whose passports are expired, lost or stolen, enabling them to return home in a secure and verifiable manner,” she stated.
According to the NIS, the new travel passport will be issued at approved Nigerian embassies and consulates abroad. It will only be valid for a single entry into Nigeria and is designed to reduce identity fraud while ensuring proper documentation for returning citizens.
This move has been welcomed by stakeholders in the migration sector as a major step forward for Nigeria. The meeting where the announcement was made had in attendance key agencies including the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, NAPTIP, ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union and several African and European nations.
The Single Travel Emergency Passport is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s migration management framework and provide a more reliable solution for Nigerians in distress abroad, ensuring a safer and better coordinated return process.
