The Nigeria Immigration Service said it barred no fewer than 4,916 Nigerians from travelling out of the country between January and March, 2015.
The Nigerians were suspected to be on
their way to join international terrorist organisations, including the
Islamic State of Syria and Iraq and the Taliban, sources within the NIS
confided in our correspondent.
The NIS also said that 758 Nigerians were refused entry abroad while 1, 368 others were deported within the period.
Also, it said 12,152 foreigners were refused entry into Nigeria because they had no genuine reasons for visiting the country.
For the whole of 2014, the NIS prevented
18,555 Nigerians from leaving the country, according to passenger
movement returns obtained from the service.
Two Nigerian youths suspected to be on
their way to Iraq to join the ISIS were arrested by the Indian security
service last week after scaling a barbed wire fence near the
international border.
The two youths from Kano State, identified as Imran Kabeer and Sani Jamiliu, were being detained by the Punjab Police in India.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Emeka
Obua, in an interview on Monday said the organisation had intensified
profiling of travellers as part of measures to check people going abroad
to do things that are inimical to themselves and the image of the
country.
When asked why the NIS was not able to
stop the two Nigerian youths arrested in India, Obua explained that in
spite of the efforts of the service, many individuals still managed to
escape.
He said, “Before the advent of ISIS, the
NIS had 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 has always tried to stop young
Nigerians travelling for doubtful reasons. It’s 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
were being recruited by the ISIS through the internet and social media,
stressing that terrorism had become a global challenge for security
agencies.
When asked to explain the nature of the
profiling been carried out on intending travellers, the NIS spokesman
said that it involved thorough interrogation of the subject on his age,
travelling plans, means of income, reasons for travelling and his
sponsors.
He said, “We look at the age bracket of
the intending travellers and the persons they are travelling with, put
them by the side and profiled them thoroughly. What are their intentions
for going abroad? Where are they going? Who are they going to meet? How
much do they have on them? Are they staying in a hotel?
“In the course of this profiling, you would find out the truth.”source:Punch
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