Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has stated that cases of undocumented migrants were caused by Nigeria’s porous borders.
The Minister raised the concern at a meeting with an European Union delegation led by Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ketil Karlsen.
Aregbesola said Nigeria was seeking stronger collaboration with relevant stakeholders to check the problem.
“Illegal migration is a thing of concern as it not only depletes a region of viable and reliable labour, talent and human resource, but also makes room for unplanned human presence”, he said.
The Minister commended the EU and others for their support on the Migrants Information Data Analysis System (MIDAS). He noted that the system had enhanced the documentation of immigrants entering the country.
Aregbesola also thanked Europe for assisting Nigeria to curtail the spread of COVID-19.