Immigration repatriates 80 illegal immigrants in Taraba

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) today repatriated 80 foreigners, who were illegally residing in Taraba. The Taraba State Comptroller of Immigration, Alhaji Habibu Haruna, who said this at the commencement of the exercise in Jalingo, explained that 170 illegal immigrants were  arrested, out of which 80 were screened and the service ascertained that they had […]

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) today repatriated 80 foreigners, who were illegally residing in Taraba.

The Taraba State Comptroller of Immigration, Alhaji Habibu Haruna, who said this at the commencement of the exercise in Jalingo, explained that 170 illegal immigrants were  arrested, out of which 80 were screened and the service ascertained that they had no valid papers to qualify them to live in Nigeria.

According to him, most of the immigrants were from Niger Republic, who got into the country through Katsina state while few others were from the Republic of  Cameroun.

“We got information that there were influx of foreigners to the state, perhaps due to crisis in the neighboring states. we sought logistical support from the acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar to patrol the state and he supported us promptly”, he said.

He said they also got approval from the Comptroller General of NIS, David Parradang  to arrest, screen and repatriate illegal immigrants without valid documents authorizing them to reside in Nigeria.

Haruna added that based on information, the service was targeting about 500 illegal immigrants across the 16 LGAs in the state, stressing that the 170 arrested so far was a result of just two days of patrol.