The Federal Government said it would commence a serious clampdown on irregular migrants from August 1.
According to the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo the government has given a grace period of three months from May 1 when the new Expatriate Administration System (EAS) would be fully operational to August 1 when it would commence enforcement.
Tunji-Ojo stated this in Abuja during a meeting with the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association NECA.
He said something like an immigration amnesty programme would be given for the regularisation of due processes for three months.
He however warned that the Federal Government would no longer tolerate a situation where some companies obstruct the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) from carrying out its legitimate duties.
Tunji-Ojo stated that among the issues discussed at the meeting, the parties agreed “ that the era when companies, some very few companies behave irresponsibly by distorting, blocking, blockading, and as a matter of fact, avoiding being subjected to immigration laws will no longer be tolerated.”
The Minister said : “We all agree with the private sector, by virtue of the law, immigration service has a right to do their job and they must perform their mandate.
“So, we have said we will be very hard on any company that avoids or prevents the Nigeria Immigration Service from carrying out its legal responsibility. We will not tolerate that. We will not tolerate that going forward.
“And besides that, we also reviewed the fees, because we know that the fees at the moment are not sustainable for certain citizenship and business activities of government and we have jointly agreed, negotiated and agreed.
“We have met in the middle in so many instances and we have shifted and considered grounds, different instances and the detailed breakdown will be provided officially, and I think will be signed by both the ministry and you.
“One other thing that we have also agreed on is, of course, the new fees, the new administration system will take effect from the 1st of May 2025. So, we said from that 1st of May, we will create an immigration amnesty programme for regularization of due processes for three months, that is, May to June, June to July, and of course, July to August.
“So by 1st of August, there will be a strict clampdown on irregular immigrants and we hope that people will take advantage of the three months period to be able to regularize and subject themselves to established immigration protocols.”