55 illegal migrants caught in Osun State

The Nigeria Immigration Service in Osun State paraded 55 illegal migrants in Osogbo on Friday. They were arrested at different places around the state.

The migrants are from Cameroon and Congo. They entered the state without any proper documents.

Ibrahim Akinyemi, the Osun Comptroller of Immigration, spoke to reporters after the parade. He said the arrests were made based on information the command received.

Akinyemi said, “These people are about 55. They are irregular migrants. They were arrested and brought here for repatriation. They came in through an unauthorised route. So, their stay here has become a serious nuisance.

“Through intelligence gathering, we were able to locate their residence, and we had to bring them here with the directive from the service headquarters through the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service. So, this is just the beginning of the exercise.

“They were apprehended through intelligence gathering. We had to go to their various locations to bring them here to the office. We have to profile and check their documents to know which ones are eligible, or which ones are legal and can be regularised.”

The Comptroller added that the NIS checked all the migrants and found they had no travel documents.

“They don’t even have ordinary passports, and they are here doing this illegal online business that is not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission,” he said.

Akinyemi also mentioned where some of the migrants were found. He said some were staying in Owode-Ede community. The command is still searching for others who might be hiding in undisclosed places across the state.

During questioning, the migrants said they came to Osun for an online business called QNET. They did not want to share more details about the business.

Akinyemi stated that the command will also pursue those who brought the migrants to the state. He said, “They also claimed to have come through Yola (Adamawa State). By the grace of God, we are taking them back to where they came from.”

One of the migrants, Ismail Mohammed from Cameroon, shared his story. He said he arrived in Osun in February 2026 after a lady in Chad invited him to do online business in the state.