''UK DEPORTEES WILL ONLY BE NIGERIANS'' FG CLARIFIES ASYLUM AGREEMENT

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HOTJIST NEWS

The presidency has made it clear that the agreement between Nigeria and the UK about bringing back people without legal permission to stay will not include foreigners.

According to the deal, the people being sent back will be those who tried to seek asylum but failed, criminals, and people who stayed past their visa time. It wasn’t clear if these people would only be Nigerians.

In a statement on Friday, Temitope Ajayi, a senior official helping the president with media and public relations, said the agreement is only about Nigerians who do not have legal permission to live in the UK.

He explained, “The Nigerian government is not bringing back non-Nigerians. The UK government is not making Nigeria bring back people who are not our citizens.”

Ajayi said the clarification is needed to stop false information from spreading.

He added, “The agreement ensures that Nigerian returnees will be treated with respect, will keep their rights under Nigerian law, and may come back in the future if they meet the immigration rules.”

Alao Babatunde, a media adviser to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the interior minister, also told TheCable that the agreement is only for Nigerians and does not include foreign nationals.

Under the agreement, Nigeria will, for the first time, accept UK-issued letters as a way to identify people who don’t have valid passports, helping them return.