Richard Ginika Izuora
The Nigeria Immigration Service Rivers State Command has commenced a statewide operation and intelligence gathering on irregular migrants operating in the state. According to the State Comptroller James Sunday,PCC, It became imperative for the Command to embark on the operation in view of cases discovered through intelligence gathering and activities of its operatives in the intelligence and surveillance section of the investigation and compliance unit of the Command.
The Command discovered connivance,abuses and deliberate attempts by syndicates that specialises in extorting expatriates for irregularities in their residency and work permits and promising them cover from the Service apprehension and arrest.
The Service has constituted a team to embark on the coded Operation ” Operation Guguwa” to carry out intelligence gathering, spot checks and investigate reported cases for proper documentation,profiling and investigation and recommendations for appropriate sanctioning by the Agency headquarters Abuja.
“The Service mandates of Monitoring and Control of entry and exit, residency and work operations of Non Nigerians, expatriates on company quota, those on Temporary Work Permit(TWP), potential investors on Business Visa or other related visas including Visitors Pass,and any other permits recognised by the service inline with the Immigration Act 2015 and other extant immigration laws” he said.
The Command has commenced the operation in ernest and it is yielding positive results, Sunday said, noting that as locations are being visited and intelligence gathered is being deployed for successful apprehension of suspects and those alleged to be involved in abuses of relevant immigration provisions.
The Comptroller, warned Officers and Men of the Command involved in any act contrary to their expected roles and responsibilities to desist from such act and allow the system to work as an institution.
