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Immigration deports 56 illegal aliens in 2 months

, Refuses 412 entry
By Chris Anucha
Thursday, October 16, 2008

Fifty-six illegal aliens were eased out of the country through the Zone ‘A’ command of the Nigeria Immigration Service in the last two months.

A total of 412 inadmissible persons were also refused entry into the country, while 249 others were refused departure.  
This was disclosed by the Assistant Comptrollers General (ACG) and Zonal Coordinator of Zone ‘A’, which comprises, Lagos and Ogun states, Mr. Samuel Eluwa, during a recent visit to the Zone by the Comptroller General of Immigration, Mr. Chukwurah Udeh.

He said between January and July 2008, the zone, through the entry posts, processed 672,484 arriving passengers and 582,763 departing passengers.

The ACG also told the Immigration boss that the zone realized a total sum of N2, 658,121,593 between January and July this year, while fines from defaulting Airlines was put at $624,000.

Eluwa explained that the revenue profile of the zone had been on the upsurge due to the on-line payments.

He said the zone had made appreciable achievements in service delivery, especially, in the areas of passport processing; issuance of residential and entry permits; control of entry and departure of persons; combating human trafficking, monitoring of illegal migration, among others.

According to Eluwa, the re-orientation of officers and men in the Immigration service had been on the increase since Udeh assume office, as a result of the strategies adopted in training and re-training of officers and men.

He said: " This laudable development has improved tremendously, the enforcement of Immigration laws and regulations and engendered international best practices on migration management and efficient service delivery. All the officers and men of this zone share your vision and mission for the growth of the service and would do everything to ensure that these objectives are fully realized."

The ACG further explained that the zone issued a total of 148,579 standard passports and renewed 18,435 to eligible Nigerians. A breakdown showed that Ikoyi passport office issued 93,296, while Festac and Ogun passport offices issued 41,873 and 13,410, respectively.

Similarly, 6,144 Resident Permits and 271 Aliens Movement Cards were issued to foreigners resident in the zone.

Responding, Udeh commended the zone for its efforts and promised to give the necessary assistance to enable it perform optimally.

He took time to explain the innovations he introduced into the Immigration since 2005. This include, the e-passport, and consequently, on-line payment, IT revolution, infrastructural development, improvement in the welfare of officers including prompt payment of salaries, among numerous others.

Which countries are they from?