Saturday 5 May 2018

Nigeria Immigration Service Stops 31,672 Persons on Watch list From Leaving Nigeria

No fewer than 31,672 Nigerians are on the watch list of the Nigeria Immigration Service.
It was gathered that the citizens who are on the watch list were prevented from travelling out of the country in 2017.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Sunday James, declined to identify some of the affected citizens, stating that it was classified information.
“I can’t give you their names for security reasons, but those prevented from departing the country must have been involved in a criminal case,” he explained.
The 2017 edition of NIS Annual Report explained that the agency also prevented 18,543 foreigners from entering into the country.
The service revealed that 16,387 Nigerians were deported from different countries across the globe last year, while 4,735 returnees were profiled.
The report read in part, “284,400 refugees were received; 31,672 Nigerians were refused departure; 18,543 foreigners were refused entry into Nigeria while 16,387 Nigerians were deported from different countries across the globe and 4,735 Nigerian returnees profiled from across the globe. 
The report further disclosed that the immigration service repatriated 2,646 foreigners, adding that 2,267 Nigerians were refused admission abroad.
“One hundred and fifty two foreigners sought asylum in Nigeria and asylum was granted to 113 persons; 110 victims of human trafficking and child labour were intercepted; 66 cases of stowaways were recorded, and four human traffickers arrested,” it added.
Within the year under review, the immigration service processed a total of 1,245,595 Nigerians through recognised entry ports.
The 2017 record witnessed a 2.95 per cent increase in the number of entry of Nigerians over the 2016 record of 1,209,897 persons.
Meanwhile, the year also recorded the arrival of 556,500 foreigners from different countries through recognised entry ports.
The service also recorded a total of 3,715,268 international travellers’ movement across the various recognised Nigerian border control posts.
The number, the agency noted, increased by a margin of 6.7 per cent from the 2016 record of 3,482,125 persons.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Comptroller General in charge of the Combined Expatriates Residency Permit and Alien Cards, Mr. Abdulrasaq Dangiri, has commended Continental Transfer Technique Limited for deploying state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology in the production of CERPAC cards. 
Dangiri, who said this after inspecting the facilities at the Abuja CERPAC production centre, expressed happiness at the cordial relationship between the security organisation and the NIS over the years.
Chairman of CONTEC, Dr. Benoy Berry, who was represented by Dr. Sahshi Mozumder, expressed happiness that the ACG had a first-hand experience of what the organisation was doing for the benefit of the country.

Culled from: Punch Newspaper 




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