Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Nigerians residing in Italy yesterday, commended the effort of officials of the Nigeria Embassy in fast- tracking the process of obtaining International Passport which hitherto was difficult to do.
They also called on Nigerians to disregard a viral video by one Olusola Adegboye, Chairman of the Human Right Defenders & Access to Justice Advocacy Centre.
Adegboye in the said video had criticized officials of the embassy over the process Visa issuance and passport renewal.
However, the Welfare Officer of the National Union of Nigerians in Italy, NUNAI, Pastor Mike Oputteh, in a reaction said it is shocking for someone who claimed to be a human right defender can come to the public space and make unsubstantiated statement against Nigerians and the embassy.
He said the author of the video who do not reside in Italy is obviously on a smear sponsored campaign mission to discredit the good work of the consular office in Italy.
“We want to state categorically that Nigerians in Italy have never had it so good especially with the renewed vigor and effort of the Embassy officials in making sure that Visa and passport process are done at record time.
“So it is shocking to see some disgruntle element masquerading in name of human right defenders making false allegations in the social media. It is totally false and baseless. We are calling on all our law abiding citizens to ignore such statements.
“It is pertinent to note that the said official he mentioned in the said video was recently recognised with an International award in Abuja for bringing sanity and efficiency to visa process in Italy”, he said.