TheCable

Abubakar Malami, minister of justice, has asked those desperate to travel out of the country in order to brighten their chances of survival to think twice.

Speaking when he received the Coalition of Integrity Political Parties at his office in Abuja, Malami described the habit of going abroad through the Mediterranean and deserts as unfortunate.

The minister said the situation in South Africa bordered on foreign policies and immigration issues in the African continent, since other nationals, aside Nigerians, were also affected.

He said the Nigerian Immigration Service ought to be overhauled to profile people travelling out of the country and checkmate illegal immigration.

He said strengthening the immigration services would help to account for Nigerians in foreign countries, including South Africa.

“This is very important because by now, we should have been able to know who and who are in South Africa to defend the helpless and hapless Nigerians,” he said.

“There is no greener pasture anywhere than in our country. With farmlands everywhere, we must work harder rather than look for cheap means to migrate from the country when nobody is chasing us.

“This is one of the problems I see when our people travel abroad illegally, which is now posing a challenge; if they were to be here, we would have been able to account for their whereabouts.

“It is sad to know that some of them ran out illegally through the Mediterranean Sea to Libya and other countries, which is posing big problems.”

Malami said an overhaul of the nation’s immigration services would help to promote documentation of travellers through the country’s airports and land borders.