IMMIGRATION ARRESTS 27 WOMEN, BOY WITHOUT ENTRY PASSPORT OR VISA IN LAGOS

                                        

The Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Command arrested 27 women and a 15-year-old boy on Thursday in the Lagos Mainland area of the state.

Meanwhile  the suspects who were nationals of Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana; had been said to have been with  a valid entry passport or visa and would be sent back to their various countries as soon as all necessary investigation has concluded .

A few of the arrested people were nursing mothers carrying their babies. While the elderly ones showed remorse, the young ladies in the group chatted away as they avoided press interview and snap.

A woman in her 50s, who identified herself as Mrs Oluwaseun Joseph, from Cotonou, Benin Republic, was in tears as she pleaded for time to get her documents shots.

She said, “I have been in this country for a long time. I gave birth to my three children here. My husband who is also from Benin Republic, died some years ago.

“The work I do is to carry people’s load at Ebute Meta. I started the work when I was sick and needed money.

“That was what I was doing when they came to arrest me. If I had known about the document, I would have got it long ago. What will I do now? My kids are still in school”.

Ishay Befaye a Fifteen-year-old who was one of those arrested said he had been in Lagos for just one month.

He said, “I am 15 years old. I came to Lagos on my own. My father is dead while my mother is in Benin Republic. I finished learning bricklaying in Benin and I came to Nigeria to find work. I planned to raise enough money and then regularize my papers. I make a lot of money from the work.

“I have a bank account in Lagos where I keep the money. I am just begging them to give me some time to get home and tell my friends that I want to go to the village to get my papers.”

Justina Ahamdu, the state’s Comptroller said no second chance would be given to illegal immigrants.

She said the agency had spoken with the heads of ECOWAS embers in the state to warn against the implication of living in the country without valid documents.

Justina said, “I had a meeting with the heads of ECOWAS in the state in August when I resumed office, and I told them to warn their people staying in the country illegally, that if we picked them, we would not listen to them. And it was during the meeting I learnt that they also usually had periodic meetings with their fellow countrymen.

“Normally, when we go for raids like this, we profile and screen them before repatriating them. While repatriating them, we tell them that to be legal residents, they need to get valid documents and pass through authorized routes, before they can be allowed to stay. This is a continuous process”.

She also warned that Nigerians, who keep illegal immigrants for cheap labour or obstruct officials of the agency from making arrests, may also be made to face the wrath of the law.