The Federal Government on Tuesday announce the repatriation of 828 foreigners to their various countries in 2024.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, told a media parley in Abuja on Tuesday that the deportation exercise was carried out by operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
But Tunji-Ojo did not list their specific criminal offences committed by the deportees.
Nigeria’s constitution states that immigrants who wish to reside in the country must have permits for residency.
The Minister stated that the residency permits of expatriates would not be automatically renewed henceforth except for special reasons.
The NIS estimates illegal immigrants in the country to be about 300,000 and that they are mostly from Chad, Niger, Benin, and Cameroun.
In the 1980s, the Shehu Shagari administration deported many illegal immigrants especially Ghanaians which was termed the ‘Ghana must Go.’