... As police lumps 17 northerners as illegal aliens
by Chiemelie Ezeobi
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), today repatriated 57 out of the 100 illegal immigrants arrested during last Friday's raid of the Ijora-Badia area of Lagos State by the state Police Command and the state Task Force on Environment and Other Offences.
While the 57 aliens from the Republic of Niger were repatriated, 18 of the illegal immigrants from Mali who had fled their war-torn country, were transferred to the United Nations Refugee Commission to take action.
Although the raid was part of the stringent security measures put in place by the state command to checkmate the influx of suspected Boko Haram members into the state, 17 Northerners were mistakenly arrested and lumped as illegal immigrants.
Confirming the repatriation, NIS Comptroller, Lagos Command, Mr. Rasheed Odupeyin, said the illegal immigrants were brought to the NIS by the police and the task force.
Although he confirmed that no weapon was found on any of them, he could not say whether the suspects had link with any terrorist group as speculated.
He said, "About 92 in all were brought in. The illegal immigrants from Niger Republic have been transferred to Kamba border post, Kebbi State.
"We have a way of screening them but most of them are not registered here or have not regularised their documents. Some do not even have passports of their own countries."
Odupeyin however expressed displeasure that 17 Nigerians were arrested and lumped among the immigrants.
He said this anomaly was discovered after the NIS thoroughly screened the arrested persons, adding that the service would return them to police for further investigation to ascertain their culpability of their purported links with any terrorist group.
He said, "However, while 18 are from Mali, 57 from Niger Republic, surprisingly, 17 of the suspects are Nigerians. The error was expected since the police are not trained in identifying illegal immigrants and they never carry us along during such raids.
"“If we were part of the taskforce, Nigerians would not have been arrested. We would have been able to identify them immediately because the implication for arresting Nigerians is that we spend more on feeding and welfare while they are in custody."
He urged the state government to include the service in the state security council to avoid mistakes of this gravity.
On the Malians who were not repatriated alongside their Nigerien counterparts, the comptroller factored the war currently going on in Mali as one of the reasons they were considered.
Speaking to journalists, one of the Nigerian's, Ibrahim Mohammed, a native of Kaka in Kano State, who said they were arrested illegally, debunked having links with any terrorist group, adding that their only crime was living in Lagos to make a living through hard labour.
He said, “I am a labourer and I reside in Lagos but I am not a Boko Haram member. In fact, I am scared of them as well. I still don’t know why police arrested me."
However, one of the Malians, Bulali Sangari, an ice cream vendor, said he legally came into the country with his valid passport in 2009.
He said, " I am from Segu in Mali. I came into Nigeria through Cotonu and I presented my passport but when police came to raid my home at night, they did not allow me to get it.
“I explained to them that my passport is at home but they refused. I came to Nigeria in 2009 and in 2012; I left to see my family and returned early this year and I don't have any criminal record."
Another Malian, Ahmadu Oche, said he came into Lagos from Mali through Kamba border town in Kebbi state without having any criminal record.
A citizen of Niger Republic, Ismailia Amodu, however said he arrived Nigeria illegally in January and had no passport. He said he came to Nigeria in search of a better life and sold water for a living in Surulere area of the state.
Speaking on the porous nature of the nation's borders, Odupeyin said the suspects confessed that they came into Nigeria through irregular routes to beat the borders patrol teams.
He said, “The acting comptroller general is making efforts to send officers to the borders and many have even been deployed from passport offices to the border areas.
"We are calling on citizens to report illegal immigrants to the authorities as it was not safe harbouring them. It would not be easy to trace them when they commit crimes.
“My advice is that if you allow illegal immigrants in your area, you are equally endangering your life. We are not referring to Africans alone. Even the Chinese and Indians living illegally in the country should be reported."
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