The Federal Government has inaugurated a new immigration
regulation aimed at curbing the influx of terrorists, killer herdsmen and other
irregular immigrants.
The Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau
(retd.) who presented the document on Monday in Abuja, explained that it was
also designed to enhance the protection of the country’s borders against
transnational crimes through collaboration with the Interpol.
He stated that the regulation replaced the 1963 document
based on the need to make the Nigeria Immigration Service responsive to global
migration trends.
According to Dambazau, the new regulation includes temporary
permit, visa on arrival, entry for business purposes and immigrants’ register,
among others.
He said, “It will curtail trans-border movement. There is
absolutely no doubt that we have herdsmen who go from Nigeria to other
countries and we also have herdsmen from other countries that come to Nigeria.
“So, this regulation will be able to enhance ECOWAS’
decision on trans-border movement which has been (in existence) since 1998 but
has not been implemented. We are working on that. As you know, the issue of
herdsmen and farmers’ clashes is not just a local issue; it is an issue that
has wider regional implications because ECOWAS once recognised free movement
across borders.”
The Comptroller-General, NIS, Mohammed Babandede, said that
until May 21, 2015 when the revised Immigration Act was enacted, his agency
operated with the 1963 Act “which was not only obsolete but grossly inadequate
to contain unfolding migratory realities.”
According to him, aside from providing a legal framework for
an effective implementation of the 2015 Act, the revised document consolidated
all existing immigration regulations.
He explained that the revised regulation was a product of
painstaking discourse that included contributions from experts as well as
serving and retired immigration officers.
While presenting the highlights of the immigration
regulation, the legal adviser, Ministry of Interior, Adebola Odugbesan,
disclosed that the first Immigration Act, passed by the parliament in 1963 only
allowed a maximum of N100 fine for offenders but the new one has increased the
fine to N1m.
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