59 illegal immigrants arrested in Akwa Ibom

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Akwa Ibom Command, on Sunday said that it had in its custody, 59 irregular migrants arrested in the state.

The Comptroller of Immigration in the state, Mr Garba Abdullahi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo.

Abdullahi said the migrants were intercepted by officers of the Police Command in Akwa Ibom and handed over to the NIS.

He said that the aliens were nationals of Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Republic of Togo and Cote d'Ivoire.

The comptroller said that they entered the country through the Lagos-Benin Republic border with the help of a Nigerian woman resident in Benin Republic, simply identified as Madam Theresa.

“Our investigation revealed that the woman collected huge sums of money to facilitate their movement to their destination, Gabon, via Oron in Akwa Ibom.

“Akwa Ibom is more of a transit point; the state has the longest coastline in West Africa and these people come in through unmanned jetties,” Abdullahi said.

He commended the police and other sister agencies for assisting the service in controlling the influx of unauthorised aliens in the state.

The comptroller also urged Akwa Ibom residents to always give to the command useful information concerning the movement of suspected foreigners in the state.

NAN recalls that in 2014, more than 630 irregular immigrants were repatriated from the state.

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