Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. David Paradang
THE Nigeria Immigration Service has said that it is working to determine the figure of unregistered aliens in the country for possible deportation as from May this year.
“At the end of April, Nigeria Immigration Service will be able to tell you how many non-Nigerians are in Calabar or Uyo; how many Mai-ruwa from Niger are in Abeokuta.
“Every alien must have the new Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card because any expatriate not having the card will be treated as persons not legally resident in Nigeria and is liable to be removed from the country,” the Comptroller-General of Immigration, David Parradang, said this at an interactive session with journalists on Thursday in Abuja.
The NIS boss explained that the CERPAC was introduced for foreigners living in the country with two years validity period.
He said that any foreigner who did not obtain the card by April 30,2014, would be treated as an illegal resident and repatriated from the country.
Parradang said no fewer than 158,840 foreigners were denied entry into Nigeria in 2013 by the NIS for reasons bordering on national security.
The service also prevented 106,739 Nigerians from leaving the country just as 7,390 Nigerians were repatriated to the country by foreign governments.
According to him, 321 people were picked up in Benue State on Wednesday and five Chinese women suspected to be prostitutes were also nabbed in Abuja early Thursday morning.
He said all the arrested persons all of whom he said would be screened and deported if found to have entered the country illegally.
Parradang explained that 500 border control posts with radio communication and other security equipment would soon be opened across the nation’s borders, adding that the service was collaborating with other security agencies to stem the security challenge in the country by ensuring that terrorists do not exploit the porous borders to bring in arms and ammunition.
He said, “We are working vigorously to remove illegal aliens in the country and we are creating a database of all foreigners.
‘Everyone that is not a Nigerian must be on our database and will be given a machine read-able card which they must have with them at all times.”
Parradang said the recruitment process into the NIS was ongoing, adding that an aptitude test for applicants would hold by March 15, 2014.
He defended the hike in the cost of the Nigerian passport to N20, 000, noting that pagination has been increased to 64 in the new e-passport for the benefit of frequent travellers while those below 18 years would pay N8, 750.
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