The Permanent Secretary (PM) of the Ministry of Interior, Shuaib Belgore has disclosed 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship in 2022, the figure Belgore said was higher than the 15 years preceding 2022.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Belgore made the disclosure on Thursday at the ministerial media briefing hosted by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where he appeared alongside the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
This is even as the Minister of Interiors claimed in his statements that the increasing emigration of Nigerians from the nation in quest of better opportunities, a phenomenon now known as “Japa syndrome,” is driving up demand for passports.
According to Belgore, 150 Nigerians gave up their citizenship between 2006 and 2021, while Aregbesola disclosed that during the past two years, at least 70 foreign nationals have been deported for a variety of offences.
“In the last two years, the Minister issued a total of 70 deportation orders for the deportation of different nationals from Nigeria due to one infraction or the other. The majority of those deported were from the Democratic Republic of Korea, Egypt, Sri Lanka and a host of others,” he disclosed.
The Minister also disclosed that the Nigerian Passports issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) increased numerically from one million in 2021 to 1.9 million in 2022, representing about 80 per cent increase, which Aregbesola described as unprecedented.
The Minister said that the Ministry of Interior is working with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to constantly reform the passport administration process in order to deliver improved services to Nigerians at all times.
Speaking at a State House Press Briefing Series, Aregbesola assured that the coming general elections will be conducted under a peaceful and secure atmosphere.
According to the Minister, “peace and security are necessary conditions for election. All the security agencies in the country, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), are therefore on top of their game.
“They will leave no stone unturned to provide adequate security for the conduct of free and fair elections. Nigerians should therefore keep their minds at rest”.
Speaking on the progress of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Ogbeni Aregbesola assured that custodial centres are now fully secured, as the personnel guarding the centres are now well trained and fully equipped. They now have the capacity to withstand and repel any form of attack.
He added that “the Correctional Information Management System (CIMS) which captures the records and biometrics of every inmate in the custodial centres to facilitate quick dispensation of justice has been deployed in all the States of the Federation and the FCT.
On the operations of the Federal Fire Service, Aregbesola disclosed that the statistics of Service from 2020 till date casts a beam of hope for personal and corporate security.
“The statistics show that the Fire Service responded to 10,659 fire calls, made 696 Emergency Rescues, saved 2,225 lives and an estimated property worth 25 trillion from 2020 till date”. He said.
Commending the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for living up to its mandate of protecting critical national assets and infrastructure, the Interior Minister stated that the NSCDC is not only active on land but also on water, fighting off oil theft, illegal oil bunkering as well as pipeline vandalism.
The session was chaired by Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.
The event was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Belgore; Controller General, Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa; Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Idris Isah Jere; Controller General, Federal Fire Service, Abdulganiyu Jaji; Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Abubakar Audi and the State House Press Corps members amongst several others.
