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The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has denied reports from a section of the media that its operatives arrested 200 Chinese nationals in Suleja, Niger State, saying the information is alleged, fake and misinformed.
In a statement signed by the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Amos Opku, on behalf of the Acting Comptroller General of Immigration, and exclusively made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP), the agency noted that only a routine check up was undertaken at the facility, where 12 nationals were discovered to have irregularities in the travel documents.
The statement noted that the 12 were offering clarifications to officers of the Service at the time of going to press, and advised gentlemen of the media to always seek clarifications before publication.
The full statement:
The attention of the acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Isah Jere Idris has been drawn to some media reports alleging that the Service has arrested over 200 Chinese in a facility somewhere in Suleja Niger State.
The Service would have ordinarily ignored such bogus report but for the need to set the record straight and avoid the spread of such unfounded report that may mislead unsuspecting members of the public.
Suffice it be stated that our operatives were at that facility for routine company inspection exercise on the 10th March 2022 to check the immigration status of the foreign employees in the company. During the exercise, our operatives noticed some inconsistencies in the travel documents of 12 of them. They are currently offering some clarifications to us with respect to their immigration status in the country and investigation is still ongoing.
The acting Comptroller General therefore, wishes to use this opportunity to state categorically that the Service did not arrest 200 Chinese in any facility in Suleja Niger State as claimed in some media reports earlier in the day.
He affirms the Service’s renewed commitment to improved company inspection activities and effective migration management efforts in line with best practice. He called on the highly esteemed members of the Press to always feel free to seek out our perspectives on any issues before publishing.
