Nigeria deports 115 illegal aliens amid security clampdown

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

KANO, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities have in recent days deported 115 illegal immigrants from the northern city of Kano amid increased security after an attack on UN headquarters in the country, an official said Monday.

Authorities however declined to comment on whether the deportations were linked to the August 26 bomb attack at the UN in Abuja or other violence blamed on an Islamist sect in the country's northeast.

"We have so far repatriated 115 illegal aliens from five West African countries that have been staying without valid papers despite repeated calls for them to document their stay with the immigration service," Umar Nasir, spokesman for the Nigeria Immigration Service in Kano, told AFP.

The expelled immigrants were from Niger, Chad, Togo, Cameroon and Benin, Nasir said.

"The repatriation exercise, which will be a continuous process, followed the expiration of the three-month window period granted all illegal aliens from the sub-region to legalise their stay by registering with the immigration service," Nasir said.

Three more immigrants from neighbouring Niger were being held by immigration awaiting deportation, he added.

Kano immigration officials were acting on orders from their headquarters in Abuja to send back any immigrants overstaying their permits, he said.

The Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack on UN headquarters that killed at least 23 people.

There have been growing fears that Boko Haram has formed links with extremist groups outside of Nigeria. There were however no indications of a link between the deported immigrants and the Islamist group.

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