SPEAKING on the security implications of the recent repatriation of other countries’ nationals to Nigeria, Coordinator of Network of Migration Research on Africa (NOMRA), Prof Aderanti Adepoju, in a telephone conversation with The Guardian, said every country has the sovereign right to determine who comes and stays in its territory, but questioned the premise upon which the Gabonese government deported all the alleged illegal migrants to Nigeria.

“On what ground or premise did the Gabonese authorities deport all the people to Nigeria? Were they all carrying Nigerian passports? If yes, how did they have access to the Nigerian passports and who issued them?

“Were they profiled before the repatriation? Why did the Nigerian Mission in Gabon allow all the migrants to be repatriated to Nigeria,” he asked.

Although it was yet to be ascertained what happened, Adepoju noted that overseas, a lot of people claim to be Nigerian and have easy access to the Nigerian passport; hence overtime, Nigeria shoulders the burden of other countries, especially those from the West African sub-region.