In a collaborative effort to address issues of illegal immigration, the Nigeria Police has handed over 26 illegal foreigners to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for further investigation, News About Nigeria gathered.
The suspects were apprehended in Ayua near Auchi last week and were subsequently transferred to the custody of the Edo State Command of NIS in Benin on Monday, November 13, 2023.
The disclosure was made by Chidi Nwabuzor, a Superintendent of Police and the spokesman for the Edo State Police Command, on Friday in Benin.
Nwabuzor explained that upon questioning, it was revealed that the detained foreigners had difficulty communicating effectively in the English language, only managing to identify their countries of origin.
According to Nwabuzor, the migrants confessed that they were brought into Nigeria through the Cameroon border by an unidentified person.
The group comprised 16 males and eight females from Cameroon, along with a male and a female from Burkina Faso.
The latter two were reportedly arrested at Ayua-Uzaire in the Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State on November 9, 2023.
The Nigerian suspect responsible for bringing the foreigners into the country identified himself as an Excavator Operator.
He claimed to have lived and worked in Cameroon for several years and admitted to facilitating the entry of foreign nationals for excavation work in the small Edo town.
While the spokesman for NIS, Edo Command, Mr Ki Ake, is yet to comment on the matter, it was discovered that the 26 migrants are being held in a special facility pending thorough investigations.
The Comptroller of Immigration in Edo has reportedly directed that the illegal migrants undergo screening, profiling, and documentation.
The arrest of the migrants resulted from credible intelligence received by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Jattu divisional police headquarters, indicating the collaborative efforts of security agencies to curb illegal immigration activities.
