NIS bars 4,916 Nigerians from travelling

 

The Nigerian Immigration Service said it barred no fewer than 4,916 Nigerians from travelling out of the country between January and March, 2015.

The service also said 758 Nigerians were refused admission abroad while 1,368 others were deported within the period, adding that it also refused entry to 12,152 foreigners without genuine reasons for visiting Nigeria.

The NIS prevented 18,555 Nigerians from leaving the country in 2014, according to passenger movement returns obtained from the service.

It was learnt that the measures were part of security strategies to check Nigerians from joining terrorist groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Taliban and other insurgent organisations abroad.

Sources told our correspondent that some of them were believed to be going to join the ISIS group which has been ravaging the Middle-East.

Two Nigerian youths suspected to be on their way to Iraq to join the terrorist group, Islamic State were arrested by the Indian security service last week after scaling a barbed wire fence near the international border.

The two youths from Kano, identified as Imran Kabeer and Sani Jamiliu, are being detained by the Punjab Police in India.

The NIS Public Relations Officer, Emeka Obua, in an interview on Monday stated that the organisation had intensified profiling of travellers as part of measures  to check people who are going abroad with intent to do things that are inimical to themselves or the image of the country.

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When asked why the NIS was not able to stop the two youngsters who attempted to join ISIS, Obua explained that though the service had fashioned out a robust profiling mechanism that identifies those with unlawful intent for going abroad, many individuals still managed to escape the dragnet.

He said, “Before the advent of ISIS, the NIS has been battling with  illegal migration, organised or otherwise. The push and pull factors have always been there and the NIS has fashioned a robust profiling mechanism that identifies those whose intent for going abroad is either inimical to themselves or the image of the country.

“The NIS have always tried to stop young Nigerians traveling for doubtful reasons. Its easy to know when you see their young age, many of them are sponsored, but many escape the immigration dragnet and our expansive and extensive borders are not helping matters and the NIS didn’t have enough personnel to man all the borders.”

Obua clarified that many young people are recruited by the ISIS on the internet and through the social media, stressing that the issue is a global challenge for security agencies.