A total of 1,579, 667 movements of passengers in and outside Nigeria were recorded by the Nigerian Immigration Service in 2021, Africa Today News, New York has learnt.
Out of the figure, 163,091 passengers arrived in the country by land, 993,508 by air, and 195,219 came in through the sea.
For departure, about 177,352 persons left the country by land, 1,093,518 by air, and 88,459 by sea.
These were contained in a document by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, in September 2022, a copy which was sighted by our correspondent on Friday.
The document partly read, ‘Immigration in 2021 recorded a total of 1,579,667 passenger movement. This is made up of arrival by land, 163,091, air 993,508, and sea 195,219. Departure by land was 177,352, by air 1,093,518 and sea 88,459.’
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The minister also said the service denied no fewer than 1,681 applicants visas to the country.
He, however, did not state any reason for denying the applicants visas in the document.
‘Within the same period, 148,711 applications for Nigerian visas were received, out of which 147,030 were approved while 1,681 applications were rejected.’
Aregbesola stated that the NIS issued a total of 2,811 official and 895 diplomatic passports among others in 2021.
Same last year, the NIS issued 1,041,537 standard Nigerian passports to Nigerians at home and abroad that applied for them. It also issued 2,811 official and 895 diplomatic passports, 14,214 Emergency Travel Certificates and 150 refugee passports,’ he said.
In another report, the United Kingdom government has made an open accusation about numerous asylum seekers who have been “abusing the system” and urging the need to “take back control” and they had reiterated this statement while also talking tough on immigration.
But with its latest pledge to reduce most of the crossings from northern France in small boats, they have also come with a blatant promise to defy international conventions.
“It’s not racist for anyone… to want to control our borders, it’s not bigoted to say that we have too many asylum seekers who are abusing the system,” said Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
The stance which had been earned Braverman, whose parents had also emigrated to Britain from Kenya and Mauritius in the 1960s, with a standing ovation at this week’s Conservative party’s annual conference.