Why we are apprehending illegal immigrants in Bayelsa – NIS
On Monday, members of the Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service explained why they had detained illegal immigrants in the region.
Their arrest, according to the command, is the result of allegedly falsified identification documents, residency cards, and permits.
According to information obtained by DAILY POST, the operation, dubbed “Operation Flush,” was carried out in conjunction with Door Akpor, a state-owned security company that has the approval of the Comptroller-General, Muhammad Babandede, and the endorsement of the State Governor, Senator Douye Diri.
Nigerians, Togolese, and Ghanaians are among the illegal immigrants being examined at the state NIS offices.
The chairman of the Association of Nigerien Citizens in Nigeria verified that three of the Nigeriens lacked legal documents.
Additionally, it was learned that the exercise is anticipated to look at expatriates and foreign nationals employed by the state.
To remove illegal immigrants, NIS agents have also been sent to local government council offices and coastal villages.
It was learned that the Bureau-de-change operators and other important parties had received information before to the exercise, and that it had been conducted with a high degree of politeness and respect for basic human rights. The Department of State Security and other security agencies were alerted.
The accused illegal immigrants in their custody are being vetted and given the chance to defend themselves with a wealth of verifiable evidence, according to Sunday James, the NIS Comptroller of the Bayelsa Command, who confirmed this to DAILY POST in Yenagoa.
“To avoid misinterpretation and apprehensions, we did it with the agreement of the State Governor, who serves as the state’s Chief Security Officer, and on the basis of the Comptroller-approval. General’s Although we are conducting the exercise for national security purposes, we are not looking for residents of any particular nation. People in Nigeria are inclined to accuse the Nigeria Immigration Service of failing to adequately police the porous border because of the deteriorating security situation.
“There is nothing like a porous border, but we have unmanned spaces, as I have emphasized several times. Both the air and the ocean have uninhabited space. and notably Nigeria, which is the biggest country, most populous, and has a huge land area. Even the United States would be unable to man all of its borders without technology. And we must praise God for the NIS’s leadership in implementing technology so that we could deploy e-border technology at key entrance points. Nigeria is at the forefront in the use of this technology.
Yakubu Idris, the Chairman of the Association of Niger Republic Indigenes in Bayelsa State, commented on the exercise and stated that three Nigerien citizens were among those detained without valid entrance papers.