By WHAT has happened or happening at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) today is not merely administrative failure; it is institutional cruelty dressed in bureaucracy.
At a time when Nigerians are being crushed by inflation, unemployment and collapsing household incomes, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Interior and its agency, the NIS, appears to have perfected a system that collects money from citizens without delivering services. This is unacceptable in any civilised democracy.
The case of 15-year-old Sharon DideOluwa Adurokiya, exclusively reported by Stonix News on January 1, 2026, is a damning illustration of how governance has degenerated into organised extortion.
EARLIER PUBLICATION: https://stonixnews.com/urgent-appeal-to-tunji-ojo-as-nis-portal-fails-to-acknowledge-n52000-passport-payment-for-minor/
A sum of N52,000 was paid on 29 August 2025 for a 32-page international passport, before the controversial September 1, 2025 price hike that doubled passport fees. Payment was made via Paystack. The transaction was successful. A receipt was issued. Evidence abounds.
Yet, till today, the Nigerian Immigration Service insists, via its dysfunctional portal, that the application is “UNPAID.”
Worse still, the system has now mysteriously erased access to the application entirely, suggesting a quiet cancellation without explanation, accountability or refund. If this is not fleecing, what is?
Let us be clear: collecting money without rendering service is theft, whether done by an individual or a government agency.
The NIS cannot continue to hide behind “network issues”, “portal errors” and third-party contractors like Upperlink while Nigerians lose hard-earned money. These excuses have become ritualistic cover for systemic incompetence and institutional impunity.
Collage of Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and Kemi Nandap
More troubling is the deafening silence from the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, who, no doubt, have brought a lot of innovations to the system, but which are currently being frustrated under his very eyes by NIS officials. Is he already overwhelmed?
An earlier plea published on January 1, 2025 by Stonix News received no response. Not even an acknowledgement from the minister and the NIS boss. This silence speaks volumes.
Leadership is not about media soundbites or reform slogans; it is about intervention when citizens are being wronged, especially children.
Copies of Nigerian passport
Sharon is a minor. Her school resumption date was imminent. Her future should not be held hostage by bureaucratic negligence. N52,000 is not “small money” in today’s Nigeria. For many families, it is food, transport, medication and survival rolled into one.
Disturbingly, Sharon’s case is not isolated.
Stonix News is aware of multiple complaints from Nigerians who paid for passport services during that period, only to be trapped in an endless loop of “UNPAID” statuses, unreachable portals, ignored emails and indifferent officials. Unconfirmed but credible feelers suggest that some of these payments may never translate into passports.
If true, then Nigerians are dealing not just with inefficiency, but with a quiet racket operating within a critical national institution.
The Federal Government must understand this: economic hardship is already punishment enough. Adding institutional exploitation to it is cruel, unjust and dangerous.
The Interior Ministry must immediately: order an urgent audit of all disputed passport payments; compel NIS and Upperlink to reconcile transactions without delay;
refund or process every verified payment; hold accountable any officials or contractors found culpable.
Anything short of this amounts to state-enabled exploitation.
Nigerians are tired of paying for services that never come. They are tired of portals that work only when money is being collected. They are tired of institutions that treat citizens as expendable revenue sources.
Government exists to serve the people, not to fleece them.
The Sharon Adurokiya case must not be swept under the carpet. It must become a turning point.
Until justice is done, Stonix News will continue to ask the uncomfortable questions; and speak for Nigerians who have been silenced by a system that takes but refuses to give back.
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