Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has arrested 516 illegal immigrants in Kaduna State.
They were arrested during a mop-up operation by Immigration officials in the Zaria area of the State.
The state Immigration Controller in Kaduna State, Liman Sani Kila told newsmen that the illegal immigrants who are from Chad, Niger, and Togo were arrested following actionable intelligence.
He also disclosed that the Service had earlier this year recovered more than one thousand Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from illegal immigrants during a sting operation in various parts of the Kaduna metropolis.
He said, “Most of them are from Niger Republic, like 65 per cent of them. Then we have Togo, Cameroon and Chad. It is against the electoral law for non-Nigerian to own a PVC. Voters’ cards are meant for Nigerians. If you are not a Nigerian and you are in possession of Permanent Voter Card, you have committed an offence. You have to be arrested and eased out.
“They have been profiled and we are going to find out whether some of them are still in possession of PVCs.”
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According to the NIS Controller, they will be properly profiled after which they will be repatriated to their counties of origin.
He assured that the Nigerian Immigration Service is working closely with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure no foreigner takes part in the forthcoming elections.
“We work hand in hand. INEC is an electoral agency that is involved in the electoral process of the land. And the process involved only Nigerian. Likewise, Immigration as a Service, we control the movement of non-Nigerian in and out of the country and it is not permissible by the law that non-Nigerian should participate in the electoral process. So, the synergy is there. We work hand in hand with INEC,” he said.
