LASRRA to Partner Relevant Organisations on Biometrics

The Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) is to partner the Nigerian Immigration Service and other relevant organizations on biometric identification (which is, using human features such as fingers or eyes to identify an individual) as part of efforts to encourage residents to register for the State Residency Programme.

Mr. Olumide Lawal general manager, LASSRA, disclosed this recently when he paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Immigration Service Passport Office in Ikeja.

He explained that, the Agency has the mandate to create a reliable database of all residents in the State in order to aid the government in planning and equitable allocation of resources in the State.

According to him, “In order to ensure the success of the registration exercise, it is imperative that suitable awareness and collaboration with relevant organizations like Nigerian Immigration Service, Banking Industry (for the Bank Verification Numbers), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) for the drivers’ license and other relevant Agencies are undertaken”.

He disclosed that, he was motivated to visit the Immigration office because both offices share the same objectives and ideas, adding that, there is a new policy in the pipeline coming up for the on-going residency registration programme which will be in use to access all the state government services.

In his remark, Mr. Mustapha Bala-Maikaba, head of the Passport Office, expressed his appreciation for the visit, saying that, the rationale behind the introduction of the e-passport is that no one can obtain it twice because of the use of biometrics.

He welcomed the policy initiatives of the State Government and the desire for a working relationship between LASSRA and the Ikeja Immigration office by the former.

He also noted that, the two offices must collaborate effectively on the biometric identification system in the country’s interest in order to combat crimes that might have been perpetuated without the identification process.