The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has lamented the senseless fatalities and sufferings that Nigerians face when seeking to leave the nation illegally.
Ademola Abdulrashed, Comptroller, NIS Ekiti State Command, recommended that while Nigerians may go overseas for reasons best known to them, they must do it in a “safe, orderly, and regular” manner.
Abdulrashed, who addressed in Ado Ekiti on Friday at the grand conclusion of the three-day NIS 60th anniversary celebration with the theme “Enhancing seamless regular migration” said, “This Japa syndrome is a big challenge to those enrouting illegal ports of exit in the quest for greener pasture”.
He bemoaned the fact that many of our youths died in the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, and other places that are not worth it, saying:
“For those who survive, the dream of reaching their desired destination quickly becomes a mirage, some spend several months, even years in cells abroad for irregular migration, some are taken hostage by pirates who rob, maim and sometimes rape the female ‘japaists’.
“From the foregoing, Nigerians willing to ‘Japa’ are advised to reach out to any of our offices nationwide for necessary information and guidelines” to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration”.
According to the Comptroller, the NIS has gone through a number of modifications in the previous 60 years, transitioning the country from analogue to digital.
Abdulrashed stated:
“NIS has achieved a lot within these years in different areas of operations ranging from issuance of travel documents such as (passport, visa and residence permit), border management, migration management, national security and several others.”
He praised the acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Caroline Adepoju, for deciding to commemorate NIS’s 60th anniversary with a funfair.
cc: Punch Ng
