The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has criminalised the smuggling of migrants in the country.
Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mohammad Babandede, told Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, during a courtesy visit on Wednesday that the criminalisation of smuggling of migrants had commenced since his assumption of office.
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While commending the Edo government for its efforts at managing migration and trafficking in the state, he said: “Since I came on board, we have criminalised smuggling of migrants.”
He explained that the NIS was managing migration, adding that the annual national immigration conference was brought to the state because the state was already working with the service on managing migration.
The NIS comptroller-general noted that host states were usually chosen based on the theme of the conference for a particular year.
“This year, our theme is “Migration Management in Developing Economy: The Role of NIS,” he said.
According to him, the essence of the theme is to enlighten the public that migration is not all about trafficking and to see how it would be of benefit to the state and the country at large.
Babandede commended the state government for its support to the state command of NIS in particular and the service.
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Obaseki, in response, commended the NIS for dealing with the challenges of migration in the country.
The governor said the support from NIS had paved the way for the progress made so far by Edo State in migration issues.
