The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has expressed concern over the alarming rate of emigration of Nigerians to foreign countries describing it as “worrisome phenomenon”.
The Comptroller of Immigration Service in Enugu State, Mr Joachim Olumba, made the disclosure on Thursday at sensitisation campaign on the scourge of Smuggling of Migrants (SOM) for stakeholders in Enugu State.
The NIS Directorate organised the enlightenment in collaboration with the International Center for Migration Policy and Development (ICMPD).
According to Olumba, said the situation is becoming a worrisome phenomenon.
“Indeed, this program couldn’t have been held at a more appropriate time, considering the alarming rate at which, not only the youth, but older generation of Nigerians exhibit interest to leave the country.
“This is creating a worrisome phenomenon which has come to be popularly known in local parlance as “Japa”, he said.
He said that the appetite to jet out of the country was usually driven largely by social, economic and security concerns.
He said that Nigerians, especially the youth, were leaving the shores of the country in their droves.
“To many, what is paramount is to achieve the goal of migrating from the country and not the means of reaching their destinations.
“Whether they are smuggled or trafficked, or they even get to leave the country by means of stowaway, does not really matter to them.
“The ultimate interest is to relocate to foreign lands. As far as the vast majority are concerned, the end will eventually justify the means,” he said.
The comptroller said that the desperation had brought unspeakable and unprintable hardships on numerous Migrants.
He said that many have oftentimes been subjected to various degrees of harrowing experiences that eventually hunt them for the rest of their lives.
He said that the event would expose the reality that “not all offers to take our beloved ones overseas should be accepted.”
He commended the NIS and their collaborators for bringing the campaign to Enugu.
In her goodwill message, the South East Zonal Coordinator, NAPTIP, Mrs Nneka Ajie, said it was time for every stakeholder to stand up against the menace.
Ajie commended the immigration service for her fight against smuggling of migrants.
She said that many migrants had met their untimely death through the menace. (NAN)
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