\u200bENUGU<\/strong> \u2014 Tension is reaching a boiling point across Nigeria\u2019s South East following reports that the region\u2019s sole passport production hub, located at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Zonal Headquarters in Enugu, is being dismantled on orders from the Ministry of Interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200bThe facility serves as a critical lifeline for applicants across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo<\/strong> states. If deactivated, thousands of citizens\u2014many with urgent medical, educational, or business travel needs\u2014will be forced to trek to Abuja or other regions to secure travel documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200bSources within the Nigeria Immigration Service, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that a technical team dispatched from Abuja arrived at the facility to begin decommissioning essential hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200b”The directive came from the top. We saw technical personnel believed to be from Abuja beginning to dismantle key production machines earlier today,” the source stated. “If this equipment leaves, local issuance in the South East is effectively dead. People will have no choice but to travel long distances for services that were once at their doorstep.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u200bThe move has sparked immediate fears of systemic marginalization. Stakeholders argue that stripping the South East of its only production center creates an unnecessary hurdle for a population known for high international mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200bDespite the growing outcry, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and the NIS leadership have yet to provide a formal explanation for the activity in Enugu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200b”We are waiting for a clear word from the Minister,” said one community leader in Enugu. “You cannot just dismantle a critical service center in a whole region without explaining where the people are supposed to go. This feels like a disqualification of the South East from the national grid of ease-of-doing-business.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u200bAs the machines are reportedly being packed, residents and political leaders are calling for an immediate intervention to prevent a total collapse of passport services in the zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u200bENUGU \u2014 Tension is reaching a boiling point across Nigeria\u2019s South East following reports that the region\u2019s sole passport production hub, located at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Zonal Headquarters in Enugu, is being dismantled on orders from the Ministry of Interior. \u200bThe facility serves as a critical lifeline for applicants across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcqvjhyzqda.i.optimole.com\/cb:UNMm.7bb\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frontlinenewsng.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260206191440_-1900066223_3878434471721228395_640_317_85_webp.webp?fit=640%2C317&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u200b”Machines are Being Uprooted”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u200bA Region on Edge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u200bSilence from the Ministry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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