The illegal immigrants
The
Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Command, on Thursday arrested
27 women and a 15-year-old boy in the Lagos Mainland area of the state.
The suspects were nationals of Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana.
They were said to be without a valid
entry passport or visa, and would be repatriated as soon as the agency
concluded all necessary investigation.
A few of the women were nursing mothers who had their babies strapped to their backs.
While the elderly ones showed remorse, the young ladies in the group chatted away as they avoided press interview and snapshots.
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.
Joseph, who spoke in Yoruba with PUNCH Metro,
said although she had stayed long in Nigeria, she did not know the
importance of a valid passport until she was arrested on Thursday.
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.”
Fifteen-year-old Ishay Befaye said he had been in Lagos for only 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 regularise 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.”
But the state’s Comptroller, Justina
Ahamdu, told our correspondent the command would not give the illegal
immigrants a second chance.
Ahmadu said the agency had had a meeting
with heads of ECOWAS members in the state, to warn against the danger of
living in the country without valid documents.
She 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 authorised routes, before they can
be allowed to stay. This is a continuous process.”
She 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.
PUNCH
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