By Fatai Ahmed
The Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, has revealed that illegal immigrants are responsible for most of the criminal activities in Nigeria.
Kwara state Comptroller of NIS, Aminu Shamsuddin stated this while speaking with journalists during the 60th anniversary of the Service in Ilorin on Tuesday.
According to him, the country is surrounded by francophone countries, whose nationals are vulnerable and desperately love to stay in Nigeria.
He further noted the need for NIS to take extra measures to scrutinise every immigrant at the entry point.
“These people think Nigeria is a paradise and, truly, we are the mother of Africa. They always struggle to be part of us and are ready to spend huge sums of money to obtain a Nigerian passport. They also get married to Nigerians in their bid to naturalise, which is why we painstakingly check every immigrant.
“Through our training, we can easily ascertain if someone is a Nigerian or not,” he said.
Shamsuddin explained that processes of scrutiny sometimes make the issuance of international passports take some time and urged Nigerians to show understanding and patience.
According to him, NIS is closer to the people than other paramilitary agencies due to the services it renders to the people.
