The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is giving a 90-day period for illegal migrants to register with the service or get sanctioned. The Comptroller-General of NIS, Mr. Muhammad Babandede, gave the warning on Friday at the Service’s headquarters in Abuja. He asked those who are non-citizens in the country to take advantage of the amnesty programme and get captured in the e-Migrant Policy launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 12.
Babandede disclosed that the NIS has put in place some measures to identify foreigners and tackle illegal immigration in the country. He said airports would henceforth capture biometrics of foreigners in order to compile a comprehensive database of those who come in and out of the country.
According to the NIS boss, the free e-registration process is currently ongoing in five states of the Federation. He added that the Immigration has successfully registered over 4,000 migrants between July and September 2019. Babandede explained that the registration of foreigners was aimed at promoting security in the country while the 90-day amnesty programme would lapse on January 11, 2020.
On August 26, the NIS boss had said that the Federal Government would not hesitate to kick out anyone found culpable after the amnesty granted by the President ended. He noted that President Buhari saw the significance of having correct data of citizens and visitors in the country, saying it would help the government make good policies to improve the nation’s economy and tackle its security challenges among others.
“After the amnesty programme, any person who enters this territory and stays for a period of 90 days, there is a penalty for him for not registering and there is a penalty for the person who provides accommodation for him. “This amnesty, once it ends, we will remove and arrest any person who has not registered. So we are prepared to remove any person who has not registered from this country after the amnesty,” Babandede had said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. News Express
