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Nigerians get deported for cyber crimes

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By Abdulwasiu Usman

Sixteen Nigerian young men were raided and deported in Ghana.

The Seme Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has disclosed that 16 Nigerians have been deported from Ghana for allegedly committing cyber crimes. The Seme Border Command Comptroller, Dr. Chukwuemeka Dike, who received the returnees with immigration officers, confirmed that the deportees were arrested at their residences during a raid by the operatives attached to Ghana Economic and Financial Crimes. According to him, the deportees claimed that they were deceived or intentionally went out of the country in search of greener pastures.

It was reported that the 16 deportees are men, with ages ranging from 19 to 24. Dr. Dike noted that, from preliminary investigation, it was discovered that some of the deportees were lured into such criminal activities while some migrated there with the belief of acquiring quick wealth borne in the mind of the youth nowadays. Additionally, further investigation has also revealed that they left the country through illegal routes, through the sea, and went into some west African countries.

Travelers should secure verifiable travel documents.

Majority of those who were deported were discovered to be in violation of travelling without valid and verified travel documents, which presented the government of Ghana with the unavoidable choice of promptly deporting them back to Nigeria. Due to the agency’s collaboration and synergy with other embassies and high commissions throughout the West African community, the deportees were turned over to the Nigerian Immigration Service. This was done in consideration of the fact that the agency had built these relationships.

Comptroller, however, encouraged Nigerians planning to travel out of the country to secure a verifiable travel document as well as have a legit source of income to avoid being deported and at the same time tarnishing Nigeria’s image in a foreign land. He stressed that Nigerians could get the minimal verifiable travel document like the ECOWAS Travel Certificate (ETC), a treaty which can guarantee free movement and good allowing access to travel across sub-region borders from the shores of Nigeria to other countries.

More Nigerians are reported to be repatriated.

Furtherly, he lamented young Nigerians’ illegal acts of getting involved in criminal activities when they were supposed to be building their talents for their future. Dr. Dike said that those who are found guilty and identified as victims will be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), while those who were only incriminated in the process will also be judged accordingly. He also assured that those who have already been repatriated will be released after the conclusion of the NIS must have concluded its investigation.

The government of Ghana has alerted the Seme Command of NIS that more Nigerians will be repatriated shortly. In 2019, 723 Nigerians were deported from Ghana based on claims of cybercrime, prostitution, and unlawful stay. Also 159 deportees from Libya were received by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Currently, Nigerian nationals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are facing forced expulsion from the country. The Federal Government has advised those who illegally travelled to the state to stay calm and not make the situation worse.

Nigerians fail to cooperate with the laid down rules.

Despite several warnings by the Federal Government of Nigeria through its relevant agencies on the consequences of illegal migration to the UAE and other countries, it is regrettable that some Nigerians still find themselves as victims of this irregular act. In line with its citizens’ diplomacy, the Federal Government approved the evacuation of over 300 Nigerians stranded in the UAE. Regrettably, many of those affected have not been totally cooperative as they refused to follow the laid down procedures.


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