By Emmanuel Obisue
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has vowed to collaborate with the Department of State Security, DSS, and other security agencies to track down perpetrators of the recent “fake” employment advertorials.
Briefing journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Spokesperson for the ministry, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said plans are already underway to send coordinated emails and letters to relevant security agencies for possible collaboration to track down the perpetrators.
Ebienfa recalled that the ministry had earlier debunked the purported recruitment advertorials, but needed to clear the air after the “mischievous” perpetrators went “a step further” to send “emails” to unsuspecting Nigerians, informing them that the have been employed by the Foreign Affairs ministry, and demanding a sum of N165,800 for “diplomatic passport”.
“ATTENTION: dsspr@dss.gov.ng
“Accept the compliments of His Excellency, Yusuf Tuggar, the Nigerian Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Your application has been reviewed. We are pleased to inform you that your application has been considered for Diplomatic Services at the Embassy of Nigeria, Juba, South-Sudan to take effect 12th day of May, 2025.
“Consequently, I have been directed by the Board of the Nigerian Civil Service Commission through the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs to issue you an invitation for application of your diplomatic passport in view of your resumption while the DSS undergo its final background examination.
“All candidates are to present Valid National Identity Card issued by the Federal Republic of Nigeria for their Diplomatic Passport Processing.
“Kindly note that, the Department of States Services has been copied via dsspr@dss.gov.ng. Nigeria who live abroad (diasporans) must send a copy of police report from their country of residence to the DSS via dsspr@dss.gov.ng
“Kindly visit https://passport.immigration.gov.ng for payment of N165,800 for your diplomatic passport or contact the Diplomatic telegram channels for assistance via @diplomaticchannelsng
“Virtual interviews are at the discretion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Best Regards,
Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa,
Spokesperson,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja,” the debunked letter stated.
Vowing to take action, the ministry said, “We are not going to be silent about this. The image of the Ministry is at stake.
“We have stated before that the Ministry is not recruiting. Any information online that you have seen that was allegedly signed by either the Honorable Minister or the spokesperson, is fake”.
“This is fake. It did not emanate from the Ministry. Recruitment is done solely by the Federal Civil Service Commission. There is no way you recruited into the Diplomatic Mission that you will not go through some sort of training before posting,” Ebienfa added.
Reacting to the demand for payment for diplomatic passport by the perpetrators, the ministry warned that “nobody should fall victim to scammers who are bent on allowing our brothers and sisters part with their hard earned money”.
