Nigerian immigration official gives reasons for deportation of Britons

The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Martins Kure Abesh, has given reasons for last Saturday's [30 January] arrest and subsequent deportation of six Britons, saying the oil workers violated Nigerian immigration laws.
Abeshi, who made the disclosure yesterday before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Interior headed by Hon. Jagaba Adams Jagaba, said the expatriates breached Nigeria's immigration laws and was therefore deported.
He noted that Part VIII, Sections 56 (1-7); 58; 59; and 60 (1-5) of the Immigration Act, 2015 which provides for the immigration offences and penalties, stipulates a term of imprisonment of 10 years or fine of N2 million.
"I just arrived from abroad yesterday (Monday [1 February]) and met this case. As I'm talking, yesterday in the evening, the company that employed the expatriates, after my discussion with them they are to be responsible for their air tickets. As I'm talking now I'm sure they have been flown out.
"One company employed them. They were in the services of that company, but they travelled out, when they were coming back, another employer gave them visa to come, which is against immigration law, it is against the law of the land. So their first employer complained about these expatriates, so it is an offence they have committed and we have ordered their deportation.
"When we conduct our operation and discover that someone who is not a Nigerian is living in this country illegally, he will be repatriated. That is on our own part, they have to go.
"There is another angle to it. If he is a worker, working in a company and we discover that he does not have papers to stay in this country, he has committed an offence against the state, the company that the expatriate is working for will give us money, buy ticket or whatever is their responsibility.
* First published by Leadership Newspaper