By: Manoah Kikekon
Nigeria Immigration Service Seme Border Command, in collaboration with Lagos State Border Patrol Command, has organised a road walk/rally against illegal migration.
The event took place on Thursday at Seme-krake joint border post, Badagry, Lagos State.
Comptroller A Abdullahi, the Comptroller Seme Border Command, said "it's high time Nigerians join security agencies to say no to illegal migration and child trafficking, as in most cases the reality the migrants face on their way and the place they are going to is always different from their expectations.
"Over the years we have recorded some numbers of Nigerians that have moved illegally outside the country, and recently we have received some Nigerians that were returned from Ghana who have migrated there illegally. It is his time Nigerian make sure they get the proper documents to travel, as the process of getting these documents now is more seamless," he said.
Comptroller Bolu Bewaji from service headquarters Abuja migration management unit, who also took part in the walk, said "we are here to make sure Nigerians are not shipped abroad for wrong purposes, letting them know the dangers of irregular migration.
"We have been working tirelessly to make sure the number of irregular migrants is reduced, which is why we are putting various measures in place to make sure that Nigerians are protected. I want to tell the well eaning Nigerians that travelling through regular means is the best, as this entails getting the proper travel documents," She added.
Dr. Williams Eselebor, migration consultant, in his address during the Townhall lecture, spoke on "smuggling of migrants.".
He said "this is criminalised under UN protocol; they call it the Palemo Protocol of 2000. Nigeria signed the protocol on December 13th, 2000, and ratified it in September 2001.
"Don't just focus on migrants smuggled from Nigeria out there, migrants are also smuggled into Nigeria.
"Unfortunately, we are surrounded by francophone countries that's a huge gap, like where you are now. Benin is 773 km, Benin and Niger are strategic borders for smuggling of migrants because they constitute the routes from here to Agades, to the Mediterranean Sea, where they take a detour and go through Algeria, Morocco, or Libya before they enter those raketsy boats to Italy.
"There are lots of Nigerians in concentration camps in Algeria, Libya, and Moretainia, and why we need to take it seriously is that Seme is supposed to be one of the priority routes because Seme is one of the gateways to the Lagos-Abidjan corridor and it has a high level of movement in terms of smuggling of migrants.
"The ill defined routes are far outways the defined routes, which is why the business is thriving.
"Even with the capacity of all security agencies in Nigeria, they can not cover the length and breadth of Nigeria, so in this case, the immigrations has deployed high-level technology, and we now have a commandant control centre where the borders can be viewed in real time.
"When you put too much bureaucracy in place, people divert to irregular routes, most time the movement happens when securities are not on duty, and this is source of their livelihoods; some, if they don't do it, they die, so smuggling is profitable to the community. That is why Border community dwellers should be engaged, as these activities are difficult to track," Eselebor said.