By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Two police officers and a civilian have been arrested for fraud in passport production. The group constituting a clandestine network of three, specialised in collecting exorbitant amounts of money from vulnerable passport applicants was dismantled by the Police force following an investigation opened by the Delegate General of National Security, Martin Mbarga Nguele after he received a complaint from one of the group’s victims.
The trio; First Grade Police Constable, Angoa George Emmanuel, Senior Police Constable, Olondo Estelle Nadia working at the 5th District Public Security Police Station and a civilian, Ngoh David Marlin who works at the Frontier Police are said to have been promising express passports at amounts as high as FCFA 400 000, far above the official rate of FCFA 78 000. They were apprehended in Yaounde last February 20, 2020 was they attempted to extort a similar amount from a Cameroonian student based in Canada who had returned to the country to renew her passport.
Police Superintendent, Meva Vincent de Paul who carried out the investigation reiterated to users that the Delegate General of National Security has warned users that those who are caught giving or receiving more than the official amount charged for the production of passports will be arrested on charges of corruption.
Acknowledging that the suspects took advantage of the scarcity of passports, he reassured that there is a security stock available for issuance of passports for persons on medical evacuation, students and other emergency cases pending a change of operator.
On his part, the Director of Frontier Police, Mesing Jean Louis indicated that the production of passports has been witnessing some challenges because the General Delegation for National Security is switching operators in the production of the travel document.