From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
THE Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has arrested six Britons following a tip-off on alleged breach of extant laws regulating expatriate quota as stipulated by the Immigration Act, 2015.
The offence which was allegedly commited at the behest of a Nigerian marine logistics/procurement support service provider in the oil and gas industry based in Lagos. ridiculed NIS laws.
Daily Sun learnt that the six expatriates were allegedly hired by a company which does marine contracting and subsea inspection, maintenance and repair with head office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The Lagos firm had obtained Resident Work Permits for the six expatriates from the Immigration Service, who embarked on the Christmas/New Year holidays and expected to return to work early last month.
However, to the surprise of the management of the company, it was discovered that the six Britons had arrived in Nigeria with visas to work on board a vessel at Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT), Onne.
As at Press time, the Lagos company that sourced for the expatriates at great cost through one of its UK technical partners, has complained to NIS in Rivers/Bayelsa states and Onne command.
An officer at the Onne Command of the Immigration Service, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the six expatriates have been arrested and undergoing interrogation with a view to transferring the case to Abuja for necessary action.
Sources at the Ministry of Interior and the NIS said hiring of expatriates is a tortious and costly venture, adding that it begins with the registration of a company that has nothing less than 10 million share capital with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
“This is followed by applying for Expatriate Quota Approval from the Business and Citizenship Department of the Ministry of Interior. It is with this authority that a company can source for expatriates with requisite qualification/experience and inviting same after contractual agreements must have been signed through the Nigerian mission in his/her country of residence where a special working visa is applied for the applicant. The host company must also accept Immigration responsibilities on behalf of the expatriates while in Nigeria.
The NIS spokesperson, Epedeme Kings, who confirmed the incident, said the suspects were arrested and brought to Abuja for further investigation.
His words: “The Britons are with us in Abuja and we are going to carry out further investigation on the matter. This situation must be on their residency.”