The newly appointed Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has ordered the arrest of former political office holders and retired public servants who are still in possession of Official/Diplomatic passports.

Babandede, gave the order while addressing senior officers of the Service on Tuesday at the Service headquarters in Abuja.

He directed officers on duty at the various airports in the country to arrest such persons and hand them over for prosecution.

Those who fall under the category are former state governors and deputies, ministers, permanent secretaries, diplomats and members of the National Assembly.

Babandede recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had on September 7, 2015, directed the NIS to retrieve the documents from all illegal holders noting that, most of them were yet to comply with the directive.

He said “charges will be pressed against unauthorised holders of such documents because such persons are no longer in the eligibility list and are, therefore, in contravention of Sec. 10 of the Extant Immigration Act, 2015.

“I am hereby directing that unauthorised holders of such passports be arrested at the airports and other points of entry/departure. Efforts will be made to trace such unauthorized holders in their given addresses.”

Babandede disclosed that 158 diplomatic passports and 310 official passports had been retrieved since the directive was given last year.