Police nab 165 illegal immigrants in Kebbi
Police have arrested 165 illegal immigrants in Birnin Kebbi all cramped in a three-bedroom house from where they have set up a ponzi scheme defrauding residents.
The Kebbi State Police Command said those arrested were from Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic, and Niger Republic.
According to the command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Nafiu Abubakar, detectives discovered the arrested immigrants in Kuwait area of Birnin Kebbi.
“During the operation, 35 Burkina Faso nationals, 110 from Ivory Coast, 11 from Benin Republic, five from Niger Republic, and four from Mali were taken into custody,” he said.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had no valid documents and are involved in Qnet Ponzi scheme.
The police has handed over the suspects to the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Residents have commended the police for the arrest, saying the presence of 165 undocumented migrants poses security threat to the state.
A resident of the Kuwait area in Birnin Kebbi, Adamu Augie, said many of those detained had been living in the flat for several months.
“We don’t know what they do for a living, but we have been seeing them coming in and out of the flat. We don’t know where they are from, but it’s clear they are not Nigerians. Locals were uneasy about their presence.
“Some of us reported their presence to the police. Given the current security situation, you can’t be too cautious,” he said.
Another resident, Abdullahi Umar, said residents informed the police about the presence of the illegal aliens.
“The police have done a good job. We didn’t know anything about these people. Their presence poses a significant security threat because they aren’t Nigerians, and no one knew why they were all gathered in that one flat,” Umar said.