Foreigners Embracing Presidential Amnesty On E-Registration -NIS

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says foreigners in the country are turning up en mass for registration in line with the six months amnesty granted to them by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Sunday James, the Public Relations Officer of the service who stated this in an interview with The Tide’s source yesterday in Abuja on Thursday, said migrants have been fully exploiting the window.
The president had given a six-month amnesty to migrants who had stayed in Nigeria beyond 90 days without resident permit to register and obtain the document.
The amnesty will end on Jan. 11, 2020.
The source reports that the president on July 12 inaugurated the Migrant e-Registration and Data Processing Centre in Abuja.
James said: “It is a welcome idea and the six months amnesty given by Mr President is one of the best things that will happen to non-Nigerians.
“When a nation is saying that we pardon you for six months but within the six months make sure you correct the wrong you have done, it is a very good idea.
On border security, James said that through a presidential directive, the service and other sister agencies had beefed up security at the nation’s borders.
He said that the upscale in security was to ensure that only those with valid travel documents were allowed in or out through designated route.
“This assignment is being coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) with the Army, Air Force, Police, DSS, Customs and Immigrations.
“These agencies are to ensure that movement across the border is done ‘regularly’, meaning that you must travel with a valid passport and through approved route.
“The lead agencies of this exercise are the Nigerian customs and immigrations and the spokesperson for this exercise is the customs PRO assisted by myself.