The Nigeria government has appealed to the German government not to deport about 12,000 illegal migrants back to Nigeria.
The appeal was made by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio on Wednesday when the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annette Gunther paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Akpabio noted that deporting the illegal migrants will aggravate security challenges in the country.
Akpabio said Nigeria is grappling with insecurity, calling on Germany to work in synergy with Nigeria in the areas of security and power, to enhance the socio-political development of Nigeria.
He said, “We also have a problem of infiltration from other countries. We require assistance from Germany in the area of security because when we had the Boko Haram issues in the North East, it might not have escalated to the level it did if we had the support of major players like Germany and others.
“It was very difficult for us to get support from America at that time, maybe due to what they read on social media concerning us. If developed countries stop listening to social media, they would be willing to assist developing countries.
“The recent decision of Germany to deport illegal Nigerians back to the country numbering 12,000 is something you have to look into for us, because of its security implications. As a result of the current political situation in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, almost every black person in Germany, would claim to be a Nigerian because they don’t want to return to crises prone countries.
“Dumping 12,000 illegal immigrants in Nigeria would lead to the escalation of insecurity in the country. There is, therefore, the need for your country to allow our immigration officers to assess, who exactly is a Nigerian amongst them. If they allow them in here, without any kith and kin and they have to survive, the result would be nothing but militancy or insecurity,” Akpabio added
