A leading pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Nigeria, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged the National Assembly to investigate claims that Chinese company in Nigeria recruit convicts from their country in Nigeria as technicians.
This followed what it called an extensively damaging public admission by a committee of the House of Representatives that Chinese companies in Nigeria were bringing in prison inmates from China to work as expatriates on many lucrative construction sites paid for by Nigeria.
HURIWA urged the National Assembly to name and shame public officials facilitating such illegality.
Its National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Director of Media, Miss Zainab Yusuf, also urged the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to respond to the allegation that expatriate quota was granted to Chinese prisoners.
Read Also: Trump to meet with Xi Jinping at the G20 economic summit
In its statement, HURIWA said: “We are petitioning to stand against the illegal immigration of large numbers of Chinese prisoners into Nigeria as expatriates; in turn, taking slots meant to accommodate graduates in the Labour force of the nation.
“A House of Representatives member representing Gumel, Gagarawa, Maigateri and Sule Tankarkar Federal Constituency of Jigawa State, Sani Zoro, raised the alarm of incessant importation of Chinese prisoners to work in foreign companies in Nigeria. The lawmaker, who stated that Chinese prisoners were often conveyed into the country as expatriates, accused the NIS of complicity in the immigration breaches.
Read Also: Trump to meet with Xi Jinping at the G20 economic summit
“Surprisingly, NIS Deputy Controller Immigration (DCI) James Sunday denied the allegation against the service. He insisted that the claim remained an unfounded allegation. He said the statutory responsibility of Immigration on movement of immigrants had never been compromised.