22nd June, 2013
MADUABUCHI NMERIBEH/Kano
No fewer than 400 illegal immigrants were discovered by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Command in Kano, northwest Nigeria, in an operation launched Friday.
NIS Comptroller in Kano, Alhaji Hamisu Maishanu told newsmen on Saturday that the exercise of mopping up the illegal immigrants will end on Monday.
According to him, during screening of the illegal immigrants, it was discovered that 384 of them are Nigeriens, while 16 others are Chadians.
Maishanu said repatriation of the aliens will commence immediately after the mopping up exercise on Monday.
He noted that the Service will not allow illegal aliens to gain entry into the country without proper documentation and data bank because they are just killing the economy.
Maishanu warned that any illegal immigrant caught without relevant documents would henceforth be repatriated to his or her country with immediate effect, adding that the exercise would be a continuous, in line with the new leadership of the service under Mr David Paradang to flush out illegal immigrants from the country.
“This is mop up exercise of illegal immigrants is to complement what the Federal Government is doing under the current security situation. We will take the photograph and the bio-metric data of all those arrested so that we can identify them whenever they find their way into the country,” Maishanu stated.
The Immigration boss further stated that the exercise would also be extended to all the 44 Local Government Areas of the State to rid Kano of all illegal immigrants.
He, however, called on the people of the state not to panic on the mop up exercise whenever armed security men are raiding their area, adding that it is meant to ensure that those immigrants with valid documents were allowed to stain the state.
The Comptroller warned that any illegal immigrant who returned without legal documents would be arrested and prosecuted.