About 150 illegal aliens who migrated into Nigeria from neighbouring countries this year have been deported, the Nigeria Immigration Service, NISM, in Zamfara State has announced.
Addressing journalists Tuesday during a press conference in Guasau, the state NIS comptroller Shehuri Sadiq, said the illegal immigrants were arrested during operations in certain parts of the state which included Filin Jirgi, Samaru, Bungudu, Gada biyu, Mada, Mado town, Gusau, and Damba.
The comptroller stated that although some of the immigrants were found in possession of Nigerian national identity cards and voter cards which was a contravention of the nation’s laws, the exercise should not be interpreted as intended to spite any nation but a fulfilment of the NIS’s duties.
This development appears to give credibility to the words of the Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Services, Adamawa State Command, Ubi Nkanu, who had stated on January 9, that the Service was working assiduously to ensure that no foreigners participated in the next general elections.
Nkanu, who assured Nigerians that the NIS was working with sister security organizations to ensure that the Nigerian borders were adequately manned to ensure that foreigners do not illegally come into the country, especially during elections, also stated that the major challenge the agency faces is the insurgency in Adamawa State
Noting that no meaningful development could be achieved in a situation of war, Nkanu assured journalists in a news briefing that “despite the challenge, my organization is doing its best to ensure that foreigners do not infiltrate the country.”
The comptroller also said that so far no staff of the Service in Adamawa State had died in the insurgency, adding that the NIS had effectively taken control of the state’s borders, while promising an improvement in its performance in 2015.