The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is set to phase out the traditional Emergency Travel Certificate and replace it with a newly developed biometric travel document known as the Single Travel Emergency Passport (STEP), a measure designed to offer stranded Nigerians abroad a secure one-way return home.
Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nanna Nandap, announced in Abuja during the Joint Thematic Meeting of the Khartoum, Rabat, and Niamey Processes, co-hosted by Nigeria and France.
The new initiative was confirmed in a statement issued on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, by the NIS Public Relations Officer, ACI Akinsola Akinlabi.
According to the Immigration boss, the STEP will serve as a tamper-proof alternative to the Emergency Travel Certificate currently issued to Nigerians overseas whose passports have been lost, stolen, or have expired.
She described the biometric document as a major milestone in Nigeria’s ongoing identity-management and border-security reforms.
“The Single Travel Emergency Passport is a secure, verifiable temporary travel document designed solely to facilitate the return of Nigerians with passport challenges abroad. It will be issued only once and strictly for a single entry into Nigeria”, Nandap stated.
The STEP will be obtainable at selected Nigerian embassies and consulates worldwide and will incorporate advanced biometric features to enhance identity protection while expediting emergency travel processes.
Nandap’s announcement came during a high-level regional meeting that drew key players in African and European migration governance, including ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union, NAPTIP, and Nigeria’s National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.
Discussions at the forum centered on strengthening cross-border cooperation to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking, with emphasis on prevention, victim protection, and prosecution of offenders along major migration routes.
Delivering a keynote address titled “Insights on Prevention and Protection as Strategic Pillars to Effective Law Enforcement and Prosecution Responses,” the CGI reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to global migration partnerships and responsible mobility frameworks.
“Nigeria will continue to align its border-management systems with international standards to ensure safe, orderly, and regular migration,” she said, noting ongoing capacity-building and technology-driven reforms within the Service.
The introduction of STEP, she added, is one of several measures aimed at modernizing Nigeria’s immigration architecture and reinforcing public confidence in government services abroad.
