National news
Nigeria Deports 828 Illegal Immigrants
- The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that it deported 828 illegal immigrants in 2024 as part of its efforts to combat irregular migration and strengthen national security.
- In the last one year, 137 victims of trafficking were intercepted, and in 2024 alone, 828 foreigners were repatriated by the Nigerian Immigration Service.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that it deported 828 illegal immigrants in 2024 as part of its efforts to combat irregular migration and strengthen national security.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that this was revealed by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during a media briefing held in Abuja on Tuesday.
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Highlighting the government’s achievements, the minister stated, “In the last one year, 137 victims of trafficking were intercepted, and in 2024 alone, 828 foreigners were repatriated by the Nigerian Immigration Service.”
In line with its broader reform agenda, the government has taken significant steps to modernize border operations and enhance immigration systems.
These measures include integrating Nigerian passports into the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Public Key Directory, enabling seamless verification worldwide.
Additionally, the establishment of a centralized Visa Approval Centre in Abuja has streamlined visa processing for improved efficiency.
To support these advancements, an 8.3-petabyte data center—the largest of its kind in Nigeria—has been constructed, with a solar-powered infrastructure implemented to ensure uninterrupted operations.
A command and control center has also been established, providing real-time monitoring of all land and air entry points, significantly bolstering surveillance capabilities.
The positive impact of these initiatives is already evident, with at least 97 cases of persons of international security interest being recorded through the Advanced Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) system as of Sunday, 26th January 2025.
These individuals might have otherwise gone undetected under the manual passenger processing and profiling system.
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The minister noted that the NIS also cleared a backlog of “over 200,000 passport applications within three weeks in 2023 and issued 1,836,533 passports in 2024.”
He also said the centralised passport personalisation process will begin with 21 African countries on February 3.
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