The suspension was contained in an earlier statement dated August 21 , 2015, and signed by the director of press, Ministry of Interior, Yusuf Ishiaka Alhaji, on behalf of the permanent secretary of the ministry.
According to the statement, the most senior officer of the NIS, deputy comptroller-general of Immigration, Martin Kure Abeshi, has been directed to take over the affairs of the office.
However, another statement also dated August 21, 2015 and signed by a director/secretary in the ministry in charge of Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board, Mr A.A. Ibrahim, specifically gave official explanations on why the immigration boss was suspended.
He said Parradang's major sins, according to the ministry's statement, were that he issued letters of appointment of 700 assistant inspectors of Immigration and 900 Immigration Assistants lll into the Nigeria Immigration Service without approval.
The embattled Immigration boss was also accused of refusing to take necessary measures to correct the alleged wrongdoing, despite repeated advice given to him by the Ministry, which was said to have been conveyed to him through several letters with reference nos FMI/PSO/OOl/lll/402 of June 11, 2015, and FMI/PSO/OOl/lll/411 of June 14, 2015.
The statement said "having considered the above mentioned acts committed by you to mean deliberate to the extant laws, insubordination to constituted authority authority and improper behaviour inimical to the service that is unbecoming of a public officer, l am to inform you that you have been suspended from office with immediate effect.
While you await further instruction, you are to hand over the affairs of your office to the most senior officer in the Nigeria Immigration Service. Please accept the well wishes of the permanent secretary".
However, also, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered from a reliable source, that among other reasons for Parradang's removal, was the controversy surrounding the possession of a valid Nigerian Visa by an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leader, Imam Ahmed Al-Assir, in Lebanon.
Ironically, this is coming weeks after the Immigration Service restricted visa issuance to about 24,000 young Nigerians seeking to travel abroad over fear they could join the dreaded ISIS.
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered an investigation into the granting of the visa to the ISIS chief Al Assir, who had been on the wanted list of several countries.
LEADERSHIP had reported Thursday that the rank and file at the Immigration headquarters, particularly the comptroller-general, Mr. Parradang, were worried about their fate following the arrest of the terrorist, a development security experts described as a huge embarrassment to Nigeria.
A source at the Ministry of Interior, who pleaded not to be named for security reasons, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that Mr President was disappointed at Parradang's failure to utilize intelligence reports that unravelled that the terrorist groups had syndicates that front for them in the country to purchase passports and obtain visas.
The source disclosed that PMB's decision to lash out at Parradang was centred basically on the Service's claim in a recent interview with BBC, through its spokesman, Mr Chukwuemeka Obuah.
Obuah had announced the restriction of visa issuance to young school leavers for about 15 months, citing fears that Nigeria had been named as a recruitment ground of the dreaded militant group as reason.
He had, in that interview, confirmed his agency's fears that the terrorist group, which hunts basically for unemployed males, had a syndicate that makes arrangements for visas, tickets and funds for their recruits.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the president is concerned about the loopholes created at the country's embassies by the lackadaisical attitude of security officers, especially the Immigration officers, and has vowed to deal with wanting officers bent on frustrating his efforts at ending terror attacks in the country.
The NIS has constantly received knocks over its poor handling of the issuance of passports to Nigerians, and foreigners with questionable character are always seen holding valid Nigerian passports.
Read more from Source:
http://leadership.ng/news/455548/how-parradang-landed-in-trouble
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