2023 ELECTIONS: IMMIGRATION SEIZES 6000 PVC, IDENTITY CARDS FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
Written by AIGBOKHAEBHO OKHUELEIGBE on February 9, 2023
The Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, has seized over 6,000 national identity and voter cards from migrants in 21 border states.
The Acting Comptroller-General of the NIS, Isa Idris Jere disclosed this at a retreat with Zonal Coordinators and all Command Comptrollers at the service headquarters in Abuja.
Jere said 3,823 identity cards and 2,393 voter cards unlawfully possessed by migrants were intercepted and confiscated.
He said the documents were intercepted in Nasarawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, Yobe, Kwara, Taraba. Plateau Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Zamfara, Jigawa, Edo, Bauchi, Niger, and three other states.
The NIS boss revealed that the immigrants, most of whom hail from West African states have been deported to their various homelands according to the ECOWAS Protocol on freedom of movement
He tasked all immigration personnel to regard the forthcoming elections as an opportunity to showcase their border management and intelligence-gathering proficiency. He also said that sanctions await senior officers under whose watch lapses or partisanship were recorded.
He said:
We all know that we are heading towards elections and the only means you can vote is through the voter card. And you can only register for a voter card if you have a national ID card.
So some non-Nigerians who hold this document may display it at the polling unit and vote. But with our men on the ground and our experiences, that will not happen.
All the comptrollers shall be held liable for any lapse or partisanship in any personnel under their watch. You are hereby charged to reorient officers and men to exhibit a high sense of professionalism.
This is why we resolved to hold Comptrollers responsible for any failure recorded by their men.
