By Oluwatosin Maliki
Three missions in the United State of America encountered biometric issues, as the machine was unable to capture fingerprints of Nigerians, however, the federal Government has resolved the problem as passport production has commenced.
Following this, the three missions resumed passport services.
A public notice has been posted in the embassy of Nigeria Washington DC, stating that all passport applicants scheduled earlier for biometric capturing are expected to come to the mission on Monday.
The statement read, “This is to inform all passport applicants scheduled for biometric capture from Monday, November 13, to Thursday 16 have been rescheduled. It has been rescheduled to hold from Monday 20 to Wednesday 22nd, 2023. The affected applicants can come to the embassy on any of the days. The change of schedule is due to the internet outrage experienced at the embassy and we regret any inconveniences this might have caused.’’
While, confirming this development, a source in the embassy, in New York, explained on Sunday, that the problem was rectified over the weekend.
“The system is back over the weekend. The experts worked tirelessly to resolve it and we are back. We fixed it yesterday (Saturday) and tested it. The system is back and all the centres are fine, both New York and Atlanta. The server in DC is collected to Atlanta and New York so whatever happens to our server affects other missions.’’
The anonymous source, stated that the problem was internet-related and not a server issue, noting that since the server was connected to the embassy internet, anything that happens to the internet, automatically disconnects the other centres too.
Furthermore, the source said that the experts in Nigeria worked with local ICT experts in the embassy and they were able to restore the internet.
According to the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the country has three missions in the U.S, which are the Consulates-General of Nigeria in New York and Atlanta, and the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC.
Quest Times gathered that the embassy in Washington DC is the only passport production centre in the U.S., while the consulates take biometrics in their missions and take the same to Washington DC for passport production.
The associations noted in the statement, “The New York consulate has jurisdiction over the highest number of states and accepts the largest number of applicants from across the United States. It boggles the mind to understand why two passport printing machines are located in Washington with none in New York and in Atlanta’’.