The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has arrested 55 irregular migrants from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo at different locations across Osun State.
The migrants were reportedly arrested following intelligence gathering by the Osun State Command of the NIS and were found to have entered Nigeria through unauthorised routes without valid travel documents.
Speaking with journalists on Friday, the Osun Comptroller of Immigration, Ibrahim Akinyemi, said the operation was carried out after the command received intelligence on the activities and locations of the migrants.
Akinyemi noted that the migrants were taken to the command for profiling and documentation to determine their immigration status and establish whether any of them qualified for regularisation.
“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,” he said.
According to him, the command traced the migrants to their various residences through intelligence gathering before taking them into custody.
He added that the operation was carried out in line with directives from the NIS headquarters and the Comptroller General of Immigration.
He said initial checks conducted on the migrants showed that none of them possessed valid travel documents, including ordinary passports, despite having been residing and conducting business activities in the state.
“We checked all of them, and we discovered that they don’t have any 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,” Akinyemi said.
The Comptroller disclosed that some of the migrants were picked up from Owode-Ede community, while the command was continuing its search for others believed to be staying at undisclosed locations across the state.
He asserted the migrants told investigators that they came to Osun to engage in an online business known as QNET but declined to provide further details about the nature and operations of the business.
Akinyemi said the command was also investigating the circumstances surrounding their entry into Nigeria, particularly those responsible for facilitating their movement into Osun State.
He disclosed that some of the migrants claimed to have entered Nigeria through Yola, Adamawa State, adding that the NIS would trace their movement and ensure that those found to have violated immigration laws were repatriated.
The Comptroller also warned individuals and groups involved in facilitating the illegal entry or stay of foreign nationals in the state that the immigration service would take appropriate action against them.
He said the latest operation was only the beginning of a wider enforcement exercise aimed at identifying and addressing irregular migration across Osun State.
One of the arrested migrants, Ismail Mohammed, a Cameroonian national, said he arrived in Osun State in February 2026 after being invited by a woman living in Chad to participate in an online business.