By Olusegun Lawrence Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Thursday said no fewer than three million Nigerians are living illegally in the United Kingdom.
T.A Hundeyin, the Deputy Controller General in charge of Investigation and Intelligent, disclosed this in an interactive session with Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs over deportation of 48 Nigerians by the British government.
He dismissed media reports that the British government is planning to deport 29,000 Nigerians.
According to him, only 48 people which had already been deported and the 45 people out them committed offences.
Fielding questions from Journalists after the meeting, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, had this to say after the meeting, “The Asst Deputy Comptroller – General, Investigations, Intelligence and Enforcement, of the Nigeria Immigration Service, just confirmed to us now that it is not true that 29, 000 Nigerians are being deported from the United Kingdom or that the United Kingdom government intends to deport 29, 000 but that only 48 Nigerians and he had shown us their names and records that actually confirmed that they had all served their prison sentences so that is why they are being decorated.
“He also said that about three million Nigerians are illegally living in the United Kingdom and that if three million Nigerians are living there illegally, and they are only removing just 48 people confirmed to have committed crime and jailed, then the situation is not too bad.
“We will not relent in our efforts on checking and doing our oversight functions. If it requires for us to go there and visit them, and to ask questions, we won’t mind to go there and to give Nigerians and to give them the history and the records of what we find out.”
