NIS boss, Muhammed Babandede
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says foreigners in the country are turning up en mass for registration in line with the six months amnesty granted to them by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Sunday James, the Public Relations Officer of the service who stated this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, said migrants have been fully exploiting the window.
The president had given a six-month amnesty to migrants who had stayed in Nigeria beyond 90 days without resident permit to register and obtain the document.
The amnesty will end on Jan. 11, 2020.
The president on July 12 inaugurated the Migrant e-Registration and Data Processing Centre in Abuja.
James said: “It is a welcome idea and the six months amnesty given by Mr President is one of the best things that will happen to non-Nigerians”.
“When a nation is saying that we pardon you for six months but within the six months make sure you correct the wrong you have done, it is a very good idea”.
On border security, James said that through a presidential directive, the service and other sister agencies had beefed up security at the nation’s borders.
He said that the upscale in security was to ensure that only those with valid travel documents were allowed in or out through designated route”.
“This assignment is being coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) with the Army, Air Force, Police, DSS, Customs and Immigrations”.
“These agencies are to ensure that movement across the border is done ‘regularly’, meaning that you must travel with a valid passport and through approved route.
“The lead agencies of this exercise are the Nigerian customs and immigrations and the spokesperson for this exercise is the customs PRO assisted by myself.
“All the six geo-political zones have been taken over by the operatives with enough human and vehicular assets deployed.’’
James said the mandate of immigration was to ensure that people were only allowed to come into the country through recognised entry point.
He stressed that Nigerians travelling out must carry a valid document while those coming in must be profiled before they enter.
James said that by the new directive, no foreigner would be allowed in without valid documents.
“For Nigerians, you are not allowed to travel without a valid travel document, but when you are coming back home, why not.”
“The document you are bringing may not be of much necessity but we still profile you to know why you are coming back with an invalid document”.
“For non-Nigerians, we do not allow them to come in without a valid travel document and they must come in through a recognised route.
“This exercise will continue as directed by the Federal Government,’’ he said.
