President Bola Tinubu has approved the extension of the tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, until December 31, 2026.

Nandap, who joined the NIS on October 9, 1989, was appointed as Comptroller-General on March 1, 2024, with an initial tenure set to end on August 31, 2025.

A statement by the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Monday, said Tinubu commended Nandap for her leadership, noting improvements in border management, immigration modernisation, and national security under her watch.

“Under her leadership, the Nigeria Immigration Service has witnessed significant advancements in its core mandate, with notable improvements in border management, modernisation of immigration processes and national security measures.

“President Tinubu commended the Comptroller-General for her exemplary leadership and urged her to continue dedicating herself to the Service’s strategic priorities, which align with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement read.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the NIS in safeguarding Nigeria’s borders and ensuring safe and legal migration.

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The Nigeria Immigration Service said, on Wednesday, that it arrested 378 illegal immigrants involved in fraudulent activities across Ogun State.

According to a statement on Wednesday, the suspects were apprehended at their hideouts during a joint operation by officers of the Ogun State Command and Zone A headquarters in the Lambe/Ajuwon Akute areas of the state.

Speaking on the arrest, the Comptroller of the Ogun State Command, Muhammed Akadri, said the operation followed credible intelligence reports on their activities.

“After profiling the suspects, we discovered that 334 of them are Cameroonian, 27 Ghanaian, 26 Beninese, and one Togolese. They consist of 251 males and 125 females, all between the ages of 25 and 30,” Akadri said.

He explained that none of the arrested persons had valid travel documents or residence permits.

“They all gained access to Nigeria through unauthorised border routes and could not present any form of identification during interrogation,” he added.

Akadri further stated that the Comptroller General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, had directed that all necessary procedures be followed to ensure the illegal immigrants were sent back to their countries of origin.

The arrest comes amid heightened efforts by security agencies to crack down on illegal immigration.

 Just last week, the NIS apprehended 40 illegal immigrants in Oyo State. Additionally, the Minister of Interior, Tunji Olubunmi-Ojo, recently confirmed that 828 illegal immigrants had been deported from Nigeria in an ongoing nationwide exercise.

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Operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service have arrested 40 illegal immigrants at different locations in the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.

A breakdown of the migrants shows that 27 are Cameroonians, two are Ghanaians, 10 are Beninese, and one is a Togolese.

Of the 40 arrested, eight are female and 32 are male, all between the ages of 18 and 35.

A statement on Tuesday by the Oyo State Comptroller, Tayo Dada, revealed that 10 of them are farmers, while 30 claim to be involved in online marketing.

Dada added that none of the foreigners possessed residence cards or travel documents.

The statement read, “Following credible intelligence, 40 illegal migrants were arrested at their hideouts in different locations within the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.

“Their profiling revealed that 27 are Cameroonians, two are Ghanaians, 10 are Beninese, and one is a Togolese. Of the 40 arrested, eight are female and 32 are male, all between the ages of 18 and 35. While 10 of them are farmers, 30 others claim to be involved in online marketing.

“All 40 foreigners entered the country through unauthorised routes, and none could present residence cards or any travel documents during interrogation.

“The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, has ordered that necessary actions be taken to repatriate the foreigners to their countries of origin.”

In January, the Minister of Interior,Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed that the Federal Government deported 828 illegal immigrants in 2024 as part of its intensified efforts to combat irregular migration and enhance national security.

The United Kingdom government announced on Wednesday that it was tightening immigration policies to prevent undocumented migrants who arrive in the country on small boats from later gaining citizenship.

“This guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is under pressure to reduce migration after Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party won roughly four million votes during the last general election, an unprecedented haul for a far-right party.

But the change to the rules has been criticised by some Labour MPs.

“If we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them a route to become a British citizen,” wrote lawmaker Stella Creasy on X, adding that the policy would leave them “forever second class”.

An immigration law blog, Free Movement said the changes had the potential to “block a large number of refugees from naturalising as British citizens, effective immediately”.

It called the updated guidance “incredibly spiteful and damaging to integration”.

The announcement came after MPs this week debated the government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, designed to give law enforcement officials “counter-terror style powers” to break up gangs bringing irregular migrants across the Channel.

Legal and undocumented immigration, both currently running at historically high levels was a major political issue at the July 2024 poll that brought Starmer to power.

On taking office, he immediately scrapped his Conservative Predecessor Rishi Sunak’s plan to deter undocumented migration to the UK by deporting new arrivals to Rwanda.

Instead, he pledged to “smash the gangs” to bring the numbers down.

Some 36,816 people were detected in the Channel between England and France in 2024, a 25 per cent increase from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, provisional figures from the interior ministry showed.

The United States immigration authorities have been granted the ability to arrest individuals at schools, churches, and hospitals following President Donald Trump administration’s reversal of policies that previously classified these locations as off-limits for enforcement.

The policy change ends more than a decade of restrictions that protected these “sensitive areas.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, announced the change in a statement, emphasizing the importance of eliminating spaces where individuals could evade arrest.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest.

 

“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the statement said, as reported by foreign media platform, the Guardian on Tuesday.

The new directive, issued by Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman, also reinstates the use of expedited removal nationwide.

Under this policy, ICE is empowered to quickly deport undocumented individuals who cannot prove they have resided in the United States continuously for more than two years.

The changes align with a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

This week, the president signed several executive actions, including measures to suspend the refugee system, block access to an app used for facilitating entry into the US, and strengthen cooperation between ICE and local governments.

As part of this initiative, ICE agents are set to conduct nationwide operations to arrest and deport undocumented individuals.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, confirmed in an interview that these efforts would begin immediately, stating that ICE officers across the country would be actively enforcing immigration laws.

Advocacy groups have voiced strong opposition to the new policies. The Center for Law and Social Policy warned of severe repercussions for immigrant families, particularly those with US-citizen children.

The organisation expressed concern that the changes could deter families from seeking medical care, disaster relief, and education and may increase the likelihood of children witnessing traumatic encounters with immigration officials.

Religious leaders have also spoken out against the policy. During a sermon at an inaugural prayer service, the Episcopal bishop of Washington urged the administration to show compassion toward immigrants and vulnerable populations.

The Donald Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would allow federal immigration agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals, ending a decades-old policy in the United States.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary, Benjamine Huffman, announced the end of two directives in a statement, giving agents more authority over whether they can carry out enforcement and eliminating a legal pathway for migrants seeking to come to the United States.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the statement read.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement set a policy in 2011 preventing agents from making arrests in sensitive locations.

The Joe Biden administration put out similar guidance.

Immigrant advocates have shared concerns over stripping that policy, arguing that doing so would stoke fear in immigrant communities and keep children from going to school or people from seeking care at hospitals.

The second directive included the phaseout of parole programs that allowed certain migrants to temporarily live and work in the United States.

Republicans have repeatedly said the Biden administration abused the parole program by extending it to multiple nationalities.

The statement didn’t clarify which programs will be phased out, but said the program will be returned to a “case-by-case basis.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country. This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration. This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis,” the statement says.

“Oh, dear God! I can’t imagine why they would do that,” said Carmen, an immigrant from Mexico, after hearing that the Trump administration had rescinded the policy against arrests in “sensitive locations.”

She plans to take her two grandchildren, ages 6 and 4, to their school Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay Area unless she hears from school officials it is not safe.