Nigeria and United Kingdom have on Friday signed an agreement to speed up the deportation of “dangerous foreign criminals” into the country amid its insecurity woes.
It was learnt that with the new deal, the offenders will receive new travel documents within five working days.
Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nigeria, claiming that the MoU on migration issues would tackle illegal migration and the significant threat it poses to both nations.
According to Patel, the countries will share their expertise and take the fight against persons responsible for criminality and security breaches.
“This landmark agreement will increase the deportation of dangerous foreign criminals to make our streets and country safer”, Patel added, speaking in protection of UK’s security.
The UK Home Office has signed similar agreements with Serbia, Albania and India.
Eleven Nigerians had earlier been deported from the United Kingdom over immigration Issues.
The development comes amid a recent review of the UK’s immigration policy, which took effect on June 28.
Although the deportation comes amid concerns that the position of the UK could generate safety concerns with regards to religious persecution and sexual orientation, the UK government insists the move is in line with keeping the country safe.
The UK Home Office, which is the government department for immigration and passport matters, said a total of 21 persons were deported on Thursday.
The deportation is said to be in line with the UK’s new Borders Act, which has five focus areas: “maximum sentence of life imprisonment for people smugglers and small boat pilots; increased maximum sentence for illegally entering the UK or overstaying a visa; powers to speed up removal of dangerous foreign criminals; new powers for immigration officers to search containers for illegal migrants; and visa penalties in countries who do not take back their own citizens who have no right to be in the UK”.
The UK home office said those deported on Thursday included persons with “combined sentences of more than 64 years” for criminal offences.
