The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has rubbished claims in the media that the Federal Government is planning to accommodate foreign prisoners as part of a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom (UK), saying such reports are fake, misleading, and politically motivated, news.ng reports.
The Minister, in a media interview on Channels Television on Tuesday evening, explained that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the UK government during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to the country a few weeks ago is aimed at addressing migration issues, concentrating on the return of Nigerians from abroad whose legal status has been withdrawn.
“You solve the problem of smuggling… but to even tell you something that is very important is that when you look at the cooperation on returns, that is Article 7 of the agreement says the parties will work together to secure the dignified return of their nationals who do not or who no longer have the right to enter or remain in the territory of other parties,” he stated.
The Minister rejected the widespread narrative that Nigeria would be used as a dumpsite for foreign prisoners, saying that such claims do not represent the intent of the administration of President Tinubu.
“I’ve seen some things in the media where some people are saying they want to go and bring prisoners from all over the world and dump in Nigeria. This government will not tolerate something. There’s no way this government under this president will sign that sort of agreement. It’s never going to be done,” he said.
Disclosing details of the MoU, Ojo explained that the agreement is based on 100% reciprocity—in essence, both countries have the same rights.
“The returning concern is a bona fide national of the requested party… Then, before departure, identification checks will be carried out by the officers of the requested party in the territory of the requesting party,” he explained.
He therefore noted that the agreement only caters to Nigerians in the UK who have overstayed, as well as British citizens residing illegally in Nigeria.
“It’s a country-to-country cooperation framework. Based on 100% on reciprocity,” he noted.
Commenting on the false narrative propagated by some persons, the Minister said, “A lot of insinuations… 90% of people that are trying to drive the wrong narrative on this agreement have not even seen it.”
