The Federal Government, on Thursday disclosed that it would soon clamp down on illegal immigrants in the country.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, made this disclosure on Thursday in Lagos while speaking at his Gabfest 2 Programme with the theme: ‘Where Are The Job.’
The minister, who was apparently not pleased with recent deportation of 723 Nigerians by the Ghana Immigration Service, lamented the inhuman treatment of Nigerians abroad.
He stressed that Nigeria also had extant laws to deport illegal immigrants in the country.
According to Fashola, there is current audit of workers on so many construction sites in the country to ascertain how many ECOWAS citizens who are working in those sites, just as he noted that though they do not need a visa to come into the country but there was need for them to have a work permit.
“But you heard that Ghana deported some Nigerians. It is the right that every country has but it is a right we have never exercised but we are going to exercise it now. It is just the law, every foreigner who has legitimate papers to come to Nigeria is welcomed, if you want to work in Nigeria the same regulation that applies in your country that you must get a work permit applies here, go and get a work permit.
“If you don’t have a work permit here and you are in my site I will take you out. That is already happening. I refused to approve payment for one consultant two months ago because I said I wanted to see his work permit and make sure it was valid for the period the job was done and thankfully, he produced it and he was paid. These are the policies about jobs and employment that are in place by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government,” the minister said.
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