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| Deportees from Gabon, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Niger, Mali, Chad and Guinea dumped in Nigeria |
The Federal Government
has cautioned Gabon and other ECOWAS member states not to dump deportees from
their countries in Nigeria. Interior Minister Abdulrahman Dambazzau, who gave
the warning on Thursday in Calabar during the evacuation of 617 people
including women and children deported from Gabon to Calabar, warned that the federal
government would impound any vessel used in dumping deportees in Nigerian
seaports.
News Agency of Nigeria report continues:
Represented
by Mrs. Funke Adeuyi, the Comptroller of Immigration, Cross River Command,
Dambazzau said that the affected people were dumped at Calabar port since Dec.
26, 2015.
He
said that other punitive measures including seizure of vessels and payment of
fines as stipulated in the ECOWAS charter would be employed to stop the
anomaly.
He
said: “Nigeria will no more tolerate this because of security implications of such
actions.
“This
should be the last time this category of the deportees will be allowed to
transit through the Nigerian land borders or ports.
“Any
country that brings this category of deportees to Nigeria will face the
relevant penalty ranging from impounding of their vessels.
“Nigeria
has a new policy on this type of issue and I am here to reiterate that severe
action will be taken by Nigerian government should this continue.”
“Most
of these people were deported for immigration related offense,’’ he said.
Responding
on behalf of ambassadors of countries whose nationals were among the deportees,
Babacar Mbodi, the Consul General, Republic of Senegal, commended the Nigerian
government for safe-keeping of the deportees.
He
said that arrangements had been concluded to take the deportees to their
respective countries through Seme, a border town between Nigeria and Benin
Republic.
He
assured that Senegal would comply with the new federal government’s policy.
The deportees are from
Gabon, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Niger, Mali, Chad and Guinea.
(NAN)
700 Illegal Migrants Repatriated From
Gabon
Channels
TV reports that about 700 illegal migrants mainly from Nigeria, Mali, Togo,
Senegal, Niger Republic, Guinea Conakry and other African countries have been
repatriated from Gabon to Nigeria for not having valid traveling documents.
Taking
delivery of the deportees at the Inland Waterways Jetty in Calabar, the Cross
River State Capital, the state Comptroller of the Nigerian Immigration Service,
Funke Adeuyi, disclosed that the deportees arrived the country on December 25
and have been under their custody.
Adeuyi
maintained that, following the end, the next line of action is to ensure that
the migrants are transported through Nigeria to the nearest land, leading to
their countries of origin which has been taken care of.
According
to her, their stay through the past days has incurred high cost in their
feeding and welfare, with support from just few individuals.
Also
speaking, the Consul General of Senegal, Babacar Mbodj, whose nationals have
consistently fallen prey of deportation, assured of government’s response in
putting an end to such ordeals.
He
thanked the Nigerian government for its show of brotherhood to the deportees.
In August, about 500 illegal migrants was repatriated from the same set of countries for the same reason.
In August, about 500 illegal migrants was repatriated from the same set of countries for the same reason.
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