Immigration requests 33.4 hectares of land, gun boats from Cross River

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has requested the Cross River State government to assist it with 33.4 hectares of land, vehicles and gun boats.

Comptroller of Immigration Service in the state, Chris Baikie, disclosed this in an interview in Calabar, the state capital.

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He said he has been forced to make the appeal for lands because where the Service uses as state headquarters has become grossly inadequate for their offices and operations.

“Our premises have become grossly inadequate to accommodate our personnel and offices. It has brought about indiscipline amongst our ranks.

“We need a standard barrack, schools, conference hall, offices, chapel etc. Our personnel are cramped into few tiny offices.

“We have requested the state government to help us in this regard. When that is done, we will use this as Calabar Municipality council branch of our Service. We similarly requested the state and federal governments to give us patrol boats.”

Baikie also cautioned foreign nationals against flouting immigration rules, threatening to wield the big stick on those who do so.

He advised them to regularise their stay and obey all laws and Government orders.

He said, “I was not sent to Cross River State to whip people into line, intimidate, imprison, expel or repatriate foreign nationals. We are not supposed also to be to hard on them even though we are an arm bearing agency of Government. Using the arm is not a priority.

“We have rules guiding our operations with the (illegal) immigrants under the ECOWAS Protocols. We sensitise.

“But if we exhaust all the diplomatic and good neighbourliness, I am afraid we shall have no other options than to wield the big stick”, he stressed.