Majority of the registered aliens have been staying in the country illegally
Disclosing this in Abuja on Friday, the Nigeria Immigration Service Comptroller-General, Mr Muhammad Babandede, said 4, 377 migrants had so far registered on the platform, stressing that the exercise was meant to provide the figure of foreigners living in the country for strategic security and planning purposes.
He called on foreign nationals to take advantage of the six months’ amnesty period for registration, noting that those who failed to do so would be deported.
He said, “The law says if you have stayed or are going to stay for a period of 90 days, you are expected to register. Let me also say that this exercise was not meant to confer citizenship on the migrants. Citizenship is entirely a constitutional matter.
“You are not going to be a citizen of Nigeria with the amnesty. The amnesty does not give you amnesty against crime; it does not give you amnesty to stay when you are not qualified.”