NIS arrest 40 illegal immigrants in calabar

THE Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Cross River, said on Thursday that it had arrested 40 illegal immigrants who entered the country without valid travelling documents.

Mrs Funke Adeuyi, Comptroller of Immigration in the state, made this known while parading the illegal immigrants before news men at the immigration office in Calabar.

Adeuyi said that the arrest was part of the activities of the NIS to raid illegal immigrants out of Nigeria.

These illegal immigrants were arrested on Monday Feb. 9 by the intelligence group of the NIS at different locations in the state.

We have thoroughly screened and profiled them. We have also identified those ones that are not here with their valid travelling documents.

At the end of the day, we have been able to identify 40 of them and they will be leaving the country as soon as possible.

Out of the 40 of them, 12 are from Mali, 10 from Burkina Faso, six from Niger Republic, five from Guinea, three from Senegal and four from Cameroon,’’ she said.

The comptroller said those arrested were jobless and roaming the streets of Calabar without good means of livelihood.

She lauded the effort of the Comptroller General of NIS, Mr David Parradang, for equipping immigration personnel to fight human trafficking, child labour and illegal migrants.

Adeuyi reiterated the commitment of the command to monitor the nooks and crannies of the state to ensure peace and safety.

Nigeria society is open to law abiding and ECOWAS nationals who get into this country with their valid papers, but at any time we find any illegal ones, we will send them back,” she said.

She advised residents to be cautious of illegal persons around them and report same to security agencies for prompt action. (NAN)