The enormity of challenges that Nigeria faces with her vast border and uncontrolled human movement could not have been better highlighted than in the recent arrest of hundreds of illegal immigrants in different parts of the country. In one incident, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) confirmed that it arrested 51 irregular Malian immigrants in New Nyanya, Karu Local Council of Nasarawa State, which shares a border with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This was barely two months after the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, confirmed that 828 illegal immigrants had been deported from Nigeria in an ongoing nationwide exercise. This situation is clearly alarming and presumably contributory to the huge social and economic dislocation of Nigeria. Solving it requires more diligent state efforts beyond the periodic operations of the immigration authorities.
A country that has 84 official land borders, all of which are not adequately manned, and over 1,400 illegal entry/exit points, is surely going to be home to a burgeoning clan of illegal migrants. This, pointedly, is Nigeria’s pathetic situation, which very little has been done to remedy over the years; hence the daily rise in the number of undocumented characters slipping in and out of the country effortlessly.
While the spectre of illegal migration in Nigeria looms both in context and outlay, the complex and serious problems that it portends for the country are legion. For instance, with Nigeria being a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking, many illegal migrants, especially women and children, daily fall victim to trafficking networks, which exploit them for forced labour and sexual exploitation.
The influx of illegal migrants strains local resources available for healthcare, education, and social services. It also leads to increased competition for available low-skilled jobs and resources among local populations, which can create tensions and affect wages for native workers.
Also, the rise in dire security challenges plaguing the country is easily traceable to Nigeria’s for-all status, with many of these undocumented migrants being fingered for high-stakes crimes, including kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling, and insurgency across the North in particular, being perpetrated by criminals and armed groups including ISIS, ISWAP, and of late Lakurawa and Mahmuda.
Furthermore, illegal migration can affect relations with neighbouring countries and the international community and raise human rights issues. The country’s failure to effectively police its porous borders constitutes a long-standing problem for the country.
In 2014, Mr. David Parradang, then Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), spoke at the National Conference Committee on Immigration, noting that though the country has only 84 approved land border control posts, there are more than 1,400 illegal border entry points in the country.
“Across the over 4,000 square kilometres coverage, we have illegal routes which are not manned…The number of illegal routes is 100 times more than the number of approved routes. In Adamawa State, for instance, we have about five control posts, but we have 80 illegal routes in the state, through which people come into the country… We have non-demarcated, poorly-marked borders. This makes people in the border community so intertwined to the extent that stringent control is difficult.”
Of the 923,768 square kilometres, which Nigeria occupies, it is bordered on the North West by Niger Republic; on the North East by Chad; on the East by Cameroon; on the South by the Gulf of Guinea, while the Benin Republic borders the country on the West. Land makes up the bulk of the country’s border, stretching 4,900 km in length, while the coastline border constitutes only 853km. Eleven years after Parradang acknowledged the problem, not much has been done to ameliorate the situation.
The irregular Malian migrants arrested near the FCT were aged between 17 and 25, comprising 11 females and 40 males. Preliminary investigation conducted by the NIS showed that the illegal migrants could be victims of Trafficking in Persons (TIP), and Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), just as none of them had any valid travel document or residence permit.
Just a week after the NIS apprehended 40 illegal immigrants in Oyo State, the Ogun State Command of the NIS arrested 378 illegal immigrants involved in fraudulent activities across the state. The suspects were apprehended at their hideouts during a joint operation by the command and Zone A headquarters in the Lambe/Ajuwon/Akute areas of the state.
“After profiling the suspects, we discovered that 334 of them are Cameroonian, 27 Ghanaian, 26 Beninese, and one Togolese. They consist of 251 males and 125 females, all between the ages of 25 and 30,” the Comptroller of the Ogun State Command, Muhammed Akadri, said, adding: “They all gained access to Nigeria through unauthorised border routes and could not present any form of identification during interrogation.”
Against the backdrop of the serial discovery of illegal migrants, the plan by the Nigerian government to launch a nationwide crackdown on irregular migrants starting August 1, 2025 (even though belated) is seen as a step in the right direction if effectively executed. The new Expatriate Administration System (EAS) is, among other things, designed to enhance migration management and enforce compliance with immigration laws. As explained by Tunji-Ojo, the enforcement of the EAS will strengthen national security and ensure that expatriates operate within the confines of Nigerian laws.
By balancing the need for security and economic stability with the imperative to uphold human rights, the country can address the challenges of illegal migration more effectively and compassionately. Addressing illegal migration, a complex issue that can present various challenges and dangers for both the host country and the migrants themselves, requires a comprehensive approach that considers the root causes of migration, the protection of human rights, and effective border management strategies. With all these potential dangers and considerations taken into cognisance, along with the right strategies, the country can be spared a lot of troubles arising from uncontrolled immigration.
