Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The immigration officers at the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports, and Immigration on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old boy for illegally printing national identity cards.
The teenager had also been issuing driving licences by using Photoshop design tools, according to the immigration authorities.
It all began when the department launched an operation after it received a report about the issue that had barred many citizens from acquiring authentic certificates from the directorate.
The immigration revealed that the suspect erased details from the scanned valid document using Photoshop tools and issued it to a new person at SSP 1500 only.
After printing, he then sealed off the document that typically looked like an original and valid national certificate.
According to the investigation carried out by the immigration officers, the boy started the production of fake documents in March 2021.
The Director of Information and Public Relations at the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports and Immigration, Col. James Mapuor Acuoth, said it was the third time they had arrested citizens involved in such organised crimes.
“Today at 2:30 pm, the directorate had tip-off information that there were lots of reports that somebody was faking national documents, for example, nationality certificate, and driving license and other documents. This boy was caught in Newsite and this is the third time now that the officers of immigration have caught people who are making fake documents,” Col James said.
“The message we are sending out today is that those people who are making fake documents will be caught and they will face justice,” he explained.
He called on citizens to be vigilant and always report to the police any crime they come across it.
“We need citizens to be vigilant and be serious about forged documents. If you find people making forged documents, please report them to the police, we need you to work as our agents there, we need to work with you, the citizens of South Sudan, to help us crack down on the factories of these people who are making fake documents, ” he explained.
“The next thing that he is going to be taken to court, it is up to the court to judge, what is the sentence, what is fine, it is up to the court,” Col. James said as he added that the suspect did not specify the number of forged documents.
Forging to pay fees
The suspect admitted wrongdoing but blamed his actions on lack of money to facilitate his studies.
“I have committed a crime and I have demonstrated it here in front of the government,” said the boy after demonstrating it to the public.
He claimed to have learned Photoshop as a child and to have used it to generate income.
“I do this because I am a student in senior two. I pay my school fees alone, and I am staying at home alone, so, this is the money I use for paying my school fees,” he added.
Fighting corruption
The director of legal affairs and crime control, Brig Mading Majak, said that their obligation at the directorate was to scale down and eventually curb corruption and crime, adding that they were at the peak of success in this fight.
Last week, the Director-General of the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passports and Immigration, Lt Gen Atem Marol Biar assured the citizens that they were already at the peak of freeing the directorate from corruption, bribery, and other derelictions.
He cited recovering passport booklets that were sold by individuals, arresting corrupt officers and increasing the mobility of both senior and junior officers.
“When I came into the office, there were a lot of passports that were printed but not picked. It was a total waste of materials, so they were removed and given to their owners. Some passport booklets held by some people in the community were recovered, ” Lt Gen Atem said.
“Fighting corrupt practices was my first effort in the office. I have arrested 15 people so far who were involved in criminal acts. Now, the priority is staff welfare,” Lt. Gen. Atem said.
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