Sarki Tafida has revealed that about 500 Nigerians are
languishing in United Kingdom prisons for various offences
ranging from immigration issues
to criminal activities.
He further said the UK was no longer a safe haven where
Nigerians could easily travel to
and hustle to eke out a
livelihood. Speaking with
journalists at the Nigerian
Carnival award dinner in London
on Saturday night, Tafida said
the number of prisoners today was far less than what he
inherited when he assumed
office three years ago.
According to him, well over 1,000 Nigerians were clamped
into prisons as at the time he was appointed the high
commissioner, a development he
said tainted the image of Nigeria
in no small way. He, however,
regretted that many of the nation’s citizens in the UK were
surviving via illegal means like
credit card fraud, internet
scams, obtaining by trick,
immigration paper forgery,
among others.
He warned Nigerians wishing to
come to visit, study or settle in
the UK to ensure they had
genuine papers and confirmed
businesses before
travelling.“They should make
sure they have a source of
livelihood. UK is no longer a safe
haven. It’s easier to live in
Nigeria without a job than live
in UK without a job. So unless
you have a job, a confirmed job,
don’t come here. Number two,
make sure your papers are
complete and not forged. That is
what gets a lot of Nigerians in
trouble and some end up in
prison,” he stated.
To deal with the problem, Tafida
said the commission was talking
with the British government on
how to assist Nigerians working
in the UK get necessary papers,
where needed, to ensure they
were not embarrassed or
deported.
“We have opened our doors to
anyone who needs assistance.
We’ve also created a dialogue
between us and the UK
government. We’ve a UK/Nigeria
forum pertaining to
immigration, where those who
are qualified to stay, even if
they don’t have passports, we
try to grant them, especially
once we have evidence that the
government is willing to grant
them stay. This is ongoing and
you can investigate to confirm,”
he explained.
He also revealed that the
commission had been assisting
Nigerian prisoners in the UK via various welfare packages.
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