The presidency has clarified that the agreement reached between Nigeria and the UK to receive deportees with no legal status will not encompass foreign nationals.
Under the agreement, the deportees would comprise failed
asylum seekers, criminals, and visa overstayers.
However, it was unclear if the deportees would only be
Nigerians.
In a statement on Friday, Temitope Ajayi, senior special
assistant to the president on media and publicity, noted that the deal only
relates to Nigerians who do not possess legal status to reside and remain in
the UK.
“Nigerian government is not taking back non-Nigerians. The
UK government is not compelling Nigeria to take those who are not our
citizens,” Ajayi said.
He said the clarification was necessary to curb
misinformation.
“The agreement guarantees that returnees who are citizens of
Nigeria will be treated with dignity, rights retention under domestic law, and
may re-enter in the future if they meet the applicable immigration
requirements,” Ajayi added.
Alao Babatunde, special adviser on media to Olubunmi
Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, also confirmed the specificity of the deal to
TheCable.
Babatunde said the agreement would only cover Nigerians,
excluding foreign nationals.
Under the agreement, the Nigerian government will, for the
first time, accept UK-issued letters, an alternative identification certificate
issued to individuals without valid passports, to facilitate their return.
Nigeria had previously used emergency travel documents as
supplementary IDs for undocumented citizen travellers.
A separate statement from the Ministry of Interior noted
that the deportation arrangements would be on a case-by-case identity
verification.
The ministry noted that the framework also sets out clear
definitions, scope, and areas of cooperation, including information sharing,
capacity building, training, and joint research on migration management and
border security.
Tunji-Ojo said for Nigeria to sustain the relationship, “we
must remember: ‘He who comes to equity must come with clean hands’,” urging
fairness and transparency.
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