26 Nigerians arrested in Kenya

Kenya has arrested and detained 26 Nigerians for allegedly flouting visa laws and for not having valid documents for their stay in the East African country.



Some of the Nigerians, who were apprehended last Saturday, were said to have been indicted for criminal activities, including advance fee fraud, a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday in Abuja said.

The statement, by the acting spokesperson, Jane Adams, assured Nigerians that the Nigerian High Commission in Nairobi, had sprung into action by ascertaining the circumstances of the arrest.

It noted that the Kenyan authorities acted in accordance with their domestic laws in respect of the arrest.

“It (Nigerian High Commission in Nairobi) has found that the Immigration Authority of Kenya acted in accordance with their domestic laws regarding the arrest and subsequent removal of illegal immigrants by cracking down on foreigners whose visas had lapsed, but who had continued to remain in Kenya illegally,” the statement said.

The MFA said the Federal Government did not support, encourage or condone any form of illegal migration, noting that it condemned all acts of criminality in its entirety.

It urged Nigerian immigrants to be law-abiding and to desist from any action capable of tarnishing the image of the country.

The ministry said it would continue engaging countries of residence of all Nigerians abroad to ensure they were treated with dignity and respect in accordance with international minimum standards.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested one Elvis Michael, the coordinator of a fraudulent cooperative credit and thrift outfit, known as Best Plan Co-operative Credit and Thrift, which was used to defraud unsuspecting members of the public who were predominantly petty traders.

The suspect, who was arrested at Jikwoyi, an FCT satellite town, was in possession of N828,000, proceeds of the day’s collection, a statement by the FCT Police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah, stated.

It said that the suspect confessed to the crime and had been cooperating with the police in their investigation, noting that efforts were being intensified to arrest his cohorts who were at large.

The police said that investigation revealed that the cooperative union deployed its agents at market places and other strategic spots to scout for potential customers who were encouraged to take up its juicy loan offer.

The statement said, “The customers are then cajoled to register with the cooperative union with the sum of N2,000, sequel to which the customer will be requested to deposit cash of up to 20 per cent of the total loan with the cooperative before the loan will be approved for the customer.”