There was confusion at the Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service on Tuesday after it was discovered that 17 people from northern Nigeria were among 92 illegal immigrants arrested by the police.
The Lagos State Police Command and the state Taskforce on Environment and other Related Offences had arrested the people on Friday after the Nigerian Army and State Security Service arrested a suspected terrorist in Ijora area of the state.
The suspects were later transferred to immigration on Monday.
However, immigration officers discovered that some of the suspects were Nigerians during screening.
While parading the suspects on Tuesday, the Comptroller for the state command, Mr. Rasheed Odupeyin, said the error was expected since the police were not trained in identifying illegal immigrants.
He said NIS was never carried along during such raids and urged the government to include the service in the state security council.
Odupeyin said, “Suspected illegal immigrants were brought to us. About 92 in all. There are 18 of them from Mali, 57 from Niger but 17 are Nigerians.
“About 23 suspects from Niger have been transferred to Kamba border post. Our vehicle is faulty and we don’t want to use a truck in conveying the rest, but they all will be deported soon.
Asked how the suspects were able to enter into the country illegally, Odupeyin said most times they took irregular routes or beat the porous borders.
He however said, “Right now, the acting Comptroller-General is making efforts to send officers to the borders and many have even been deployed from passport offices to the border areas.”
Odupeyin urged lagosians to report illegal immigrants to the authorities as it was not safe harbouring them.
“My advice is that if you allow illegal immigrants in your area, you are equally endangering your life. We are not referring to Africans alone. Even the Chinese and Indians living illegally in the country should be reported,” he said.