The Seme Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Friday said that 16 Nigerians between the ages of 19 and 24 had been deported from Ghana for allegedly committing cyber crimes there.
Dr Chukwu Emeka, the Controller of the Command, disclosed this during a news conference in Seme, Lagos State.
According to Emeka, these are young Nigerians who claimed that they were deceived or intentionally went out of the country in search of greener pastures.
“Ghana’s Financial and Intelligence Agency accused them of cyber crime, but from our preliminary investigation, we discovered that some of them were lured into these criminal activities due to the get-rich syndrome our youths are developing.
“Some of them are victims in the sense that they were deceived that they can make money if they leave Nigeria. Unfortunately, they don’t get the actual thing they bargained for in Ghana.
“Further investigation also showed that most of them left the country through illegal routes or through the sea to other West African countries.
“We also discovered that most of them travelled without genuine travel documents, so when they got to Ghana, they became prey to the authorities.
“The Comptroller General of NIS, Mr Idris Jere, has always advised Nigerians to get genuine travellers’ documents before leaving the country.
“Yes, we are part of the ECOWAS treaty of free movement and goods within the sub-region, the condition is that you must enter those countries through a legitimate route and with the right travel documents.
“It is also important to have definite means of livelihood, if not; by the time you get there, they will see you as a public charge and they will return you to your country,” he said.
He said it was painful to see young Nigerians involved in unholy activities when they were supposed to be building their talents for their future.
Emeka urged Nigerians to always travel with valid documents, adding that they should live and do their businesses according to the law of the land they had travelled to.
He said that the Government of Ghana had contacted the Seme Command ofNIS that they would be repatriating more Nigerians soon.
The controller promised to return those already repatriated to their families after NIS must have concluded its investigation.
One of the deportees, Richard Paska, a 24-year-old graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, said that he was lured to Ghana by the promise of a good job.
“My father had to look for money to let me go in February 2021 so that I could start a job. The job was a networking business but when I arrived in Ghana, the story changed.
“I was managing myself with some Nigerians when some of the personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service arrested us and brought us back to Nigeria.
“I had intended to come back, but I did not have the transport fare, I really regret going to Ghana,” he told NAN.
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