300 illegal immigrants rounded up in Edo

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN CITY — THE Nigeria Immigration Services in Edo State in
collaboration with the state government, has apprehended more than 300
illegal immigrants in the state during operation conducted in the
three senatorial districts of the state.
Controller of Immigration, Edo Command, Mr David Akwo, said,
yesterday, that 120 of those arrested would be deported, while the
Malians among them would be handed over toauthorities of the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees, in line with UN resolution.
Parading the illegal immigrants at the command headquarters, Akwo
cautioned citizens of West African countries not to misconstrue the
ECOWAS Protocol on movement of citizens of member states across the
region.
He said: "You are all aware that recently, foreigners have been
arrested for crimes in the state. So with the assistance of the
governor, we decided to raid and apprehend illegal immigrants.
"In the course of that, we arrested about 400 persons, but during our
screening we found out that some of them are Nigerians, so we left
those ones. And of course some of these immigrants who have legal
documentsthat qualify them to stay, we had to release them too.
"That left us with 120 illegal immigrants who do not possess valid
travelling documents, so they are liable to be sent back to their
countries.
On ECOWAS protocool of free movement, he said there was a proviso,
that is to say for ECOWAS citizens to move freely and gain entry into
ECOWAS member states, they haveto possess valid travel documents.
"Secondly, they have to come in through authorized route, that is
where you have immigration clearance, either through the airport or of
course the sea port, where your passport will be stamped and may be
given 90 days to stay.
Now, some of them present National ID cards but you and I know that
these are not travelling documents, they are just to identify you as
citizen of your country. So all these persons here majority are
Nigerien, we have a few Ghananians, we have some from Guinea, we have
Malians and or two Chadians.
"So because they don't have any valid documents, we have to send them
back to their countries."
You know that a lot of them have been arrested following the Boko
Haram activities and we want to make our country free from criminals.
When we talk of ECOWAS Protocol, what people don't understand is that
there has to be valid documents, to be able to move freely in the
ECOWAS countries and entry must be through designatedentry points.
"For Malians, you know what is happening in the country; the UNHCR has
written to members states not to send them back to their country,
because of the situation there now, but we will send them to the
refugee camp under UNHCR" he said.
The Controller cautioned Nigerians on the type of persons they employ
as security guards, saying care should be taken, in order that such
employees donot constitute security risks.
"What I want to add is by way of adviceto residents of Edo State; we
discovered that some of the people, especially among the well-to-do,
employ these undocumented immigrants, which is very dangerous.
"They should ensure they anybody they employ, they bring them for
proper documentation, so that they don't end up employing security
people that will become risk and endanger their life, instead of
somebody protecting you, he now ends up to become your albatross".
The commands Public Relations Officer, Mr. Solomon Kadiri added that
what they are doing is "to contribute our own quota towards security
in the country."