By Sam Erhrunmwunsee
Nigerian Immigration Service has warned that it will no longer be business as usual for any resident harbouring illegal immigrants, as the culprit will be made to face the full wrath of the law when caught.
Comptroller of Nigeria Immigration Service, Delta State Command, Emmanuel Akinrinsola, gave the warning at the command headquarters, Asaba during an interactive session with the executives and members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Delta State Council.
Comptroller Akinrinsola stated that the Nigerian Immigration Act of 2015 has made it a punishable offence for any Nigerian to harbour illegal immigrants, stressing that one must report any suspicious foreigner to the Immigration Service.
‘’We are one of the few agencies of government present at the third tier of government. We have divisional immigration officers in all the twenty five local government areas of the state commands. So the issue of saying that I am ignorant of the law, I didn’t know that this man is from Cotonou, I didn’t know he is from Niger, doesn’t arise.
“Once you harbour an illegal immigrant, the cost of that repatriation is going to be borne by whosoever harbours the illegal foreigner. So, it is a punishable offence under our law for you to harbor someone you don’t know’’, he said.
The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Delta State Command said the interactive session with journalists provided an opportunity to promote synergy between the management team of the Service and the members of the fourth estate of the realm, and also to inform them of the reforms going on in the Nigerian Immigration Service.
He stated, ‘’ Our passport system in Nigeria has been automated for close to decades now. But recently in the last few months, the top echelon of the Nigerian Immigration Service led by the Comptroller General, Mrs Caroline Adepoju, has thought it wise to deepen the automation.
“In the area of passport, it is the goal of the Service to have a seamless passport production and adherence to timeline. Now, the Comptroller General has approved that the applicant will be the one to upload his or her bio data including bright picture with eyes open, mouth closed, facing the camera straight at the comfort of his or her room, and send through correct personal email with phone numbers to the Immigration Service before appearing physically.”
On reissuance of passport or renewal, the Immigration Boss said all re-issuing applications must present their current passports for verification and approval.
He explained that the new automation procedure would reduce the time spent with the immigration officer in processing passports.
Comptroller Akinrinsola hinted that the Immigration Service was currently working on the modalities for change of data, assuring that it will commence soon.
He restated the commitment of the Immigration Service as a para-military agency to contributing to internal security through collaboration with other security agencies, saying , ‘’One of the ways we do this is raiding hideouts of illegal immigrants, with support from state governments, and repatriate them, and also with relation to expatriates companies,.
“I am going to ensure that we enforce quota regulation in employment which mandates that they must employ Nigerian understudies when foreigners are occupying positions.’’
Chairman of the Delta State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Churchill Oyowe, who led a team of journalists to the interactive session, commended the reforms in the Immigration Service in the area of digitization of passport processing, and expressed the hope that passport applicants would provide the right information.
Comrade Oyowe who urged the Immigration Service to intensify efforts in regularly raiding hot spots to fish out illegal immigrants, also called on the Service to collaborate with other sister agencies such as NIMC, NAPTIP for proper profiling of foreigners to help check the rate of crimes in the state.
