MAYOWA SAMUEL
The Nigeria Immigration Service has recovered 106 Permanent Voter Cards from foreigners residing in Kwara State.
Disclosing this on Monday, Comptroller of NIS in the state, Aminu Shamsuddin, said the foreigners were caught in possession of Nigerian PVCs during a regular patrol by Immigration officers within the Ilorin metropolis.
He said that NIS had sensitised all foreigners on the rules and regulations surrounding elections and invited them to educate them on the punishment that awaits violators.
He said: “During one of the sensitisation talks, the foreigners were scared to hear that anybody caught participating in any way during Nigeria elections would be jailed, repatriated and blacklisted.
“Some of the foreigners who had Nigerian PVCs willingly dropped their cards and travelled back to their various countries, to return after the whole election exercise.
According to him, “Most of the people involved in the act were youths, both males and females, from Niger Republic, Benin Republic and Ghana.
“They claimed that their landlords in their various residences encouraged them to get the PVCs and vote during the election, so as to increase the number of votes for their various candidates.”
The comptroller warned that any foreigner caught in possession of PVC would be jailed, repatriated and blacklisted, meaning that such persons will not be allowed into Nigeria again.
Also, ahead of the 2023 general elections, the NIS has arrested 516 illegal immigrants in Kaduna State.
They were arrested during a mop-up operation by Immigration officials in the Zaria area of the State.
The state Immigration Controller in Kaduna State, Liman Sani Kila, told newsmen that the illegal immigrants who are from Chad, Niger, and Togo were arrested following actionable intelligence.
He also disclosed that the Service had earlier this year recovered more than 1,000 Permanent Voter Cards from illegal immigrants during a sting operation in various parts of the Kaduna metropolis.
According to the NIS Controller, they will be properly profiled after which they will be repatriated to their countries of origin.
He assured that the Nigerian Immigration Service is working closely with the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure no foreigner takes part in the forthcoming elections.
