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On 12 July, 2019, the Federal Government flagged off the Migrant E-Registration exercise to ensure non-citizens living in the country are properly documented. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI looks at the contending issues as the six-month deadline for compliance looms. Additional report is provided by SHOLA ADEKOLA.
FROM the morning of the 13th of January, 2020, the Federal Government is going to commence mass arrest of undocumented foreigners all over the country with Lagos expected to record the highest number of casualties, going by the high number of such affected persons seeking daily bread in the country’s most successful commercial state.
The six-month grace for the appropriate documentation given by the central government is going to terminate at the midnight of January 12 and Saturday Tribune was told by the supervising agency for the documentation that no extension grace was on the card.
Saturday Tribune was told by the top echelon of the service that while undocumented migrants above 18 years without evidence of proper documentation, having not participated in the ongoing registration, would be arrested after the grace period and promptly deported, Nigerians harbouring them or having them in their employment would be jailed seven years or made to pay a fine of N1 million.
Those who usually facilitate the “illegal” movement of young girls and boys from neighbouring countries into Nigeria for the purpose of linking them up with those in need of domestic servants in homes across the country, popularly known as “agents”, now stand the risk of a 10-year jail term or a fine of N1 million.
The practice of helping such migrants from countries like Benin Republic, Togo and Mali to come into Nigeria illegally and fixing them up for a fee is very popular in Lagos and Abuja, despite the campaign mounted against it by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP.
Speaking to Saturday Tribune on the procedure for the Migrant E-Registration exercise, spokesperson for the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Sunday James, explained that any migrant not captured on the Migrant E-Registration database by the 12th of January, 2020 would be arrested and prosecuted.
“Migrants in every state of Nigeria, including Lagos, have till the 12th of January, 2020 to comply or we go after them. There is a document containing the entire procedure and we expect that all migrants would have completed their registration before the deadline,” James said.
Saturday Tribune is also in possession of the Migrant E-Registration document which gives a detailed procedure for registration of non-Nigerians living in the country with the Lagos centre located at Alagbon, close in Ikoyi.
Going constitutional to back up the planned punishment for the Nigerian accomplices, James pointed at Section 67 subsection (1) of the Immigration Act 2015 which provide that: “Any person who intentionally or knowingly, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or material benefit, enables a person who is not a national or permanent resident of a country to stay illegally in that country by means of a fraudulent identity document or any other illegal means; commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of seven years and a fine of not less than N1 million or both, and is in addition liable to refund to the smuggled person alimonies obtained from him/her in the cause of the commission of the offence.”
For those trading in the migrants through illegal employment, the sub-section (2) is for them. It stipulates that: “Any person who intentionally, in order to obtain a financial or material benefit from another person, engages in a fraudulent act or conducts purportedly for the purpose of procuring, facilitating or promoting the stay by that other person in a country of which he or she is not a national or a permanent resident, commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of 10 years or a fine of not less than N1 million or both, and is in addition liable to refund to the smuggled migrant alimonies obtained from him in the cause of the commission of the offence.”
Panic in Lagos
Saturday Tribune first became aware of the looming deadline when a domestic servant in a household (name withheld) was frantically seeking information about the “card they said I need to come back to Lagos in the new year.” He is from Benin Republic and possesses not a single document to connect his movement to Nigeria and establish his identity. He was notified of the registration by his equally-anxious employers who obviously want him back next year, after the annual visit, thousands like him, go to the country of their birth during the yuletide in December to return, before now, unhindered, in the new year. Despite always being in the company of his fellow countrymen in his area of residence, it appears none of them heard about it until the news got to his employers.
Findings by Saturday Tribune showed that many residents in different parts of the state from neighbouring countries like Benin Republic, Togo, Mali, Niger and others are unaware of the ongoing registration as well as their employers who could be risking jail term welcoming them back after January 12, 2020.
That would be for those who ever get to make it back to Nigeria as the immigration service is said to have ensured that only those who are captured in the ongoing exercise would be allowed back to Nigeria either through the water or land borders, especially the latter, which are currently closed by the Nigerian government.
Those who succeed in slipping back into Nigeria, Saturday Tribune was told by a senior government official, would be tracked and prosecuted before getting deported. No monetary fine or jail term is attached to the foreigners’ migration offences by the Act setting up the NIS.
While those under 18 years may enjoy a temporary relief, they too become endangered in any part of the state once they stay beyond 90 days and NAPTIP could move in for their employers for alleged child abuse and child trafficking.
Tracking offenders
When the spokesperson was asked how the cumbersome procedure of tracking offenders and arresting them would be achieved since most of their targets would either be in homes as domestic servants (Cotonou maids and young boys manning home gates) or doing menial jobs like maiguard, okada riding (for Fulani young men from neighbouring countries), he asked Saturday Tribune to leave that aspect of intelligence gathering to the service. He also responded to the possibility of migrants giving fake information.
“The process for authentication of information given by a migrant is confidential and restricted to the NIS. How we authenticate or go about authentication is our trade secret and professional approach to doing our job, part of which is the Migrant e-registration exercise ongoing nationwide.
“NIS, by the six months presidential amnesty, is carrying out sensitisation, campaigns and domesticated approach through state and local governments, royal fathers, ward heads and presidents of the unions the migrants belong to as a citizen, all in an effort to justify government’s effort not to cow anyone but to persuade them to do what is right and following right process,” James said.
Saturday Tribune, however, learnt that the NIS, which has a police unit attached to it for enforcement, will be banking on tip-offs to conduct raids on homes where most of the migrants from Benin Republic and Togo work as domestic servants. There is also the likelihood of a stop-and-search, particularly for okada riders and young ladies suspected to be domestic servants but out on errands.
The registration is completely free, according to James, who noted that with the deadline looming, the turnout at the Lagos registration centre had been encouraging. He did not give figures.
Closed border, booming human business
Although James said enlightenment and advocacy had been done by the NIS, save for a young man from Benin Republic who claimed to have concluded his registration and given a card to serve as his identification and another in the process of commencing his, nearly all illegal migrants encountered by Saturday Tribune were clueless about the exercise.
It has also been discovered that more than 90 per cent of the undocumented migrants, particularly those working as maids and security in homes, who formed the majority of such migrants, came into the country illegally, possibly through a long-running arrangement between agents/scouts who recruit them in their countries and bring them en masse to Nigeria and security agencies, Customs and Immigration, manning the country’s land borders sharing boundaries with the affected countries like Benin Republic, Togo and Mali.
The security agents at the land border at Idi-Iroko, Ogun State and at other points allegedly have a sharing formula with the agents or madams (Nigerians who place them in homes and collect their salaries from their employers on a yearly basis) on each illegal migrant allowed into the country.
In August, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari shut all land borders to stem the tide of smuggling, though the policy has been discovered through real-time pieces of evidence to be ineffective in the core-Northern part of the country where Customs officials and policemen have been captured on video escorting smuggled rice into the country through the land border in Katsina, the home state of the president.
Despite the viral video evidence, no official statement was issued to address the alleged criminal act.
At the Sokoto State land borders too, around Ilela, motorcyclists were also captured on video moving hundreds of bags of the banned imported rice into the country. There was no definite official action on the discovery.
Smugglers too have been busy at the Idi-Iroko land border but they are always caught by the eagle-eyed men and officers of the Joint Task Force supervising the closure.
The effectiveness of the monitoring of the closure at the Idi-Iroko border is what is now giving the affected migrants sleepless nights, seeing that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the proverbial needle eye than for them to stroll across the border as usual when returning from “home” in January.
Another colony of casualties
At the height of the insecurity challenges faced by the country, attention was shifted to some foreigners from neighbouring countries but who, unlike the popular maids from Cotonou, are not easily distinguishable from Nigerians, because they are mostly of Fulani ethnic stock like Nigerians from the core-North and also speak Hausa and Fulfude languages like the said Northerners. In a May 5, 2016 interview with Saturday Tribune, the head of the Hausa community in Lagos, Alhaji Kabir Sani, like many Lagosians, expressed worries over the influx of these “aliens.” The Sarkin was bothered that the “aliens” were often erroneously described as Hausa people. While attributing this lapse to failure on the part of security agencies, he said, “Because of the language and cultural similarities, they come into Nigeria easily. Some even speak Hausa and some other languages along the border. So, naturally, it might be difficult to actually differentiate them from other tribes. But then again it is a failure of government agencies like Immigration who let them in anyhow. Our porous borders should also be looked into.
“You cannot also rule out the factor of poverty, because most of them look at Nigeria as the big brother. For example, in Lagos most of them are the people you see selling water and working as security guards. Yes, it is something we should be worried about. There are good people among them, and there are bad people. Definitely some of them are actually criminals. At the level of leadership of Arewa in the South West, we coordinate ourselves properly so that we know our own people. We know the Nigerians among them.”
The Sarkin Hausawa of Hausa/Fulanis in Shashaland, Iliyasu Isa-Kira, also spoke to Saturday Tribune but differed on the foreigners’ presence in Lagos.
In a recent interview, after the controversial arrest of some Jigawa youths in Lagos, Isa-Kira told Saturday Tribune that he was responsible for overseeing the activities of his people, including citizens from Sudan, Niger, Chad, Mali and other parts of the region. He added that they came to him for identification once they entered the country and settled in Lagos.
Speaking on the new development, Alhaji Isa-Kira warned foreigners who had not complied with the registration directive, saying all in Alimosho were aware of the policy. He also disclosed that he and other Sarkins in charge of the entire Alimosho Local Government Area had instructed the foreign nationals, including those from Niger, Chad, Mali, Cameroon and Benin, to comply with the immigration registration.
Sarkin Isa-Kira, who expressed support for the policy, said it was a step in the right direction which, if well implemented, would help to monitor the activities of foreigners and checkmate their excesses.
“I have told them, especially people from Niger, Mali and Chad, to go and register because anyone that fails to do so, if caught by the government, will face the music and I will support government to enforce the rule without looking back,” he said.
Speaking on the efforts he had made to ensure the foreigners comply with the directives, Sarkin Isa-Kira declared that since many of those foreigners do not speak or understand Hausa, he and other Sarkins in the Alimosho Local Government Area, which happens to be the largest in the state, at their various meetings, had prevailed on the leaders chosen to oversee the activities of the foreigners to meet with those from their respective countries and use their local dialects to pass the message to them on why they should register with the immigration.
Registration procedure
According to the Migrant E-Registration document which Saturday Tribune obtained, “the following are the procedure for registration for migrants in Nigeria before January 2020: All migrants above the age of 18 must be captured on the Migrant E-Registration database before January 2020 or risk prosecution.
“This law applies to migrants who intend or have stayed in the country for more than 90 days. Only person enjoying diplomatic immunity or below the age of 18 or intends to stay for a period less than 90 days are exempted from the Migrant E-Registration guidelines.
“The registration is in two stages; Self Service Application, which is web-based and Desktop Registration which takes place at registration centers. We have Migrant Registration offices stationed nationwide for ease of access while the grace period lasts. Migrants are advised to get all necessary documents and walk into any Migrant Registration office in their state of residence to complete their registration. After registration, migrants will get an acknowledgement slip confirming their registration. For migrants in Lagos, they are to go to our registration office at Alagbon, close in Ikoyi.”
Required documents
On the documents that will be needed by migrants who intend to complete the Migrant E-Registration process, the migrant document explains that “We have three categories of migrants, those who come from countries in the West African sub-region, that is the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); those who hail from other African countries that are not under ECOWAS; and migrants who are expatriate employees.
“For migrants from ECOWAS countries, the following documents are needed to complete the Migrant E-Registration exercise: Introduction letter for registration and acceptance of immigration responsibilities by Diaspora community association or the migrants’ landlord or employer; copy of travel document Data Page; and an ECOWAS residence card.
“For migrants from other African countries not under ECOWAS, the following documents will be needed: Introduction letter for registration and acceptance of immigration responsibilities by employer; copy of travel document data page; Evidence of registration with professional bodies (where applicable); copy of letter of employment; copy of letter of acceptance of employment; copy of quota approval (where applicable); and CERPAC (where applicable).
“For expatriate employees, the following documents will be required for registration: Introduction letter for registration and acceptance of immigration responsibilities by employer; copy of travel document data page; evidence of registration with professional bodies (where applicable); copy of letter of employment; copy of letter of acceptance of employment; copy of quota approval (where applicable); and CERPAC (where applicable).
“Other categories of migrants are students, self employed, spouse of a Nigerian and dependants. For students, documents needed for Migrant E-Registration are: Introduction letter for registration and acceptance of immigration responsibilities by school; copy of travel documents data page; copy of admission letter; copy of letter of acceptance of admission; and evidence of payment of school fees.
“For migrants who are self employed, documents like introduction letter for registration and acceptance of immigration responsibilities by Diaspora, association/landlord/owner of residence; copy of travel documents data page; evidence of business registration; and copy of business permit (where applicable).
“For migrants who are married to Nigerians, the following documents will be needed to complete their Migrant E-Registration: spouse’s consent letter requesting for special immigrant status and acceptance of immigration responsibilities; letter of consent from the wife of the Nigerian, stating willingness to stay with spouse in Nigeria; copy of Nigerian passport bio-data page of spouse; copy of passport bio-data page of spouse; copy of marriage certificate; copy of state of origin or local government identification certificate of the Nigerian spouse.
“For dependants: Copy of travel documents data page; copy of marriage certificate of spouse; and copy of dependants’ birth certificate (children).
“Failure to comply with the Migrant registration is contrary to Section 57 (5) of the Immigration Act 2015 and punishable under same section of the law.”
Low, no awareness
Many non-Nigerian residents of the state expressed ignorance of any directive for them to register on a national database when approached by Saturday Tribune. “I only heard of the registration of foreigners in Nigeria about two weeks ago and they said the deadline is less than two months away.
“I really don’t understand what will happen after 12th of January 2020. Will they separate a marriage that has produced four children because of a law? I am confused here and I have discussed with my wife. Hopefully, we will complete the registration before the deadline,” said Ganiyu Akomolafe, who is married to a lady from Benin Republic.
Also speaking to Saturday Tribune, a lady who hails from Benin Republic and lives with her guardian in the Atan area of Ogun State explained that she was not aware of any registration for foreigners. The lady, who identified herself simply as Funmi, explained that she was hearing of the procedure for the first time and might need to discuss with her guardian because her parents were based in Cotonou in Benin Republic.
“I am not aware of what you are discussing with me. Even my guardian whom I have been with for more than three years now has never discussed such with me. Maybe when I get home, I will confirm from them to know if it is true,” Funmi, who apparently works as a house help for her Nigerian guardian, explained.
A Nigerian, Ola Emman, waved off what sounded like a coming Armageddon for the undocumented foreigners. “Is it not Nigeria? Is it not Nigerians? Nothing will go beyond the Initial Gra Gra. You know what they call it, IGG,” he stated.
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