Immigration arrests 400 northerners in Bayelsa

Comptroller General of Immigration, David Shikfu Parradang, mni

By Hassan Haruna Ginsau

Officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on Monday swooped on 400 people of northern Nigerian extraction, living in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.

A northerner resident in the town told the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), that those arrested and detained were mainly petty traders who had been conducting their’ activities in the state capital for years.

But the Immigration service said the arrest and detention of the northerners was in line with measures being undertaken nationwide to fish out illegal immigrants.

Public Relations Officer of the NIS, Chukwuemeka Obua, who confirmed the arrests to the BBC, said 100 of those detained had already been released after interrogation.

Amongst those released were citizens of Niger Republic, who possess the necessary requirements for living in Nigeria.

The development comes as a large number of Nigerians from the North are being arrested and detained in some parts of southern Nigeria based on suspicions that they pose security threats or could be linked to the Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah lid Da’awati wal Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram.

Last month, over 300 northern traders, mostly natives of Jigawa and Kano states, were arrested by the police while travelling in Rivers state. The then state Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, described the arrests as a “top security issue”.

Mbu has since been summoned by the House of Representatives to explain the reason for the arrests of the northerners.

REF   http://www.peoplesdailyng.com/immigration-arrests-400-northerners-in-bayelsa/