The commander of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has expressed concern about the alarming rate at which Nigerians are fleeing the country in search of greener pastures elsewhere.
On Thursday, November 3, the NIS commander in Enugu state, Joachim Olumba, spoke at a stakeholder sensitization campaign on the problem of migrant smuggling (SOM).
According to the immigration chief, the desire to leave the country is usually motivated by social, economic, and security concerns. He claimed that many Nigerians, particularly young people, were fleeing the country.
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In his words;
“Indeed, this program couldn’t have been held at a more appropriate time, considering the alarming rate at which, not only the youth, but older generation of Nigerians exhibit interest to leave the country. This is creating a worrisome phenomenon which has come to be popularly known in local parlance as “Japa”
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To many, what is paramount is to achieve the goal of migrating from the country and not the means of reaching their destinations. Whether they are smuggled or trafficked, or they even get to leave the country by means of a stowaway, does not really matter to them. The ultimate interest is to relocate to foreign lands. As far as the vast majority are concerned, the end will eventually justify the means”
Olumba claimed that the migrants’ desperation had resulted in terrible and unprintable hardships.
