Save The Soul Transparency And Eagle Eyes International Foundation (STEIF) has cautioned the federal government against plans to create multiple channels of granting permanent residency status to foreigners in Nigeria through issuance of Brown Card.
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STEIF’s Chief Research analyst, Dr. George Davidson, who made this observation Wednesday in Abuja at a press conference, said the alleged plan by the Ministry of Interior to introduce a Brown Card to foreigners was nothing but an attempt to exploit and extort money from the foreigners.

According to Davidson, some agents which he described as ‘unscrupulous’ had started reaching out to the expatriates through their database, allegedly demanding the sum of $5,000 to get them permanent residency and citizenship.

He warned that granting permanent residency status to foreigners in Nigeria will further worsen the fragile security situation and safety of the nation against foreign nationals who may come into the country with ulterior motives that undermine the security system of the country.

Davidson insisted that chapter 3, section 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the 1999 constitution of the country which stated the appropriate measures and categories of citizenship must be followed.

He called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Service (DSS), the National Security Adviser (NSA) and other relevant security agencies to launch a wholistic investigation into the alleged surreptitious plan by the Ministry of Interior to introduce a Brown Card to foreigners.
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His words: “We are a Non- Governmental organization saddled with the responsibility to expose corruption at all spheres.
“It is worthy to note that the essence for which the card is designed has been adequately handled by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), through its technical partners, thence the institution should rather be strengthened to curb and check any loopholes observed in the existing structure than to deploy the scarce resources of the country into creating a new system which will create an avenue for exploitation and corruption and above all security threat in the country.”

Adding: “Information at our disposal which we gathered on the pages of several newspapers revealed that the Ministry of Interior has awarded a contract to a certain company, whose name has not been disclosed to the public and some unscrupulous agents had started reaching out to the expatriates through their data base demanding for a whooping sum of $5,000 to get them permanent residency and citizenship.

“It is our belief that this plan will create multiple channels of granting permanent residency status to foreigners in Nigeria which will further worsen the fragile security situation and safety of the nation against foreign nationals who may come into the country with ulterior motives that undermine the security system of the country.

“It is our further information that not only did the Ministry of Interior give the contract to an undisclosed company, but there was also no operational manual stating how the process will be conducted. Yet, some unscrupulous agents have started extorting and exploiting foreign nationals under the guise of brown cards.

“We believe that the whole process was deliberately shrouded in secrecy in order to get monetary gain without the public being aware of anything.

“Based on the foregoing above, we kindly urge the EFCC, ICPC, NSA, SSS, NIA, NIS and the IGP to immediately launch an investigation into the matter in order to protect the unsuspecting general public from falling preys.”
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