From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The Federal Government has expressed anger over an incident where a Chinese expatriate ordered the shooting of a Nigerian Immigration officer who was on legitimate assignment.
The immigration officer had gone to the company’s premises to demand an immigration document when the Chinese ordered his shooting.
Speaking at Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Workshop on the Implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy 2025, in Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said that the case has been escalated to the diplomatic level and the culprit must not go unpunished.
He warned that any foreigner who poses a threat to national security would be swiftly blacklisted.
He equally warned that expatriates should stop abusing the nation’s immigration laws because Nigeria is not a dustbin. Such abusers of the law, he warned, should be blacklisted.
Also, he noted, there would be a penalty for expatriates that overstayed in Nigeria.
According to him, there will be three lists———white list, grey list and black list depending on the severity of offences.
Earlier, The Controller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nana Nandap had stated that Nigerian Visa Policy 2025 is ambitious and innovative.
According to her, it’s a transformative milestone in the nation’s journey towards digital governance and global integration.
“This forward-looking policy, jointly developed by the Federal Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Immigration Service, reflects our shared vision of enhanced accessibility, transparency and efficiency in Nigeria’s visa system.
At the core of this policy is the new e-visa platform. A fully digitised, centralised system that revolutionises how foreign nationals interact with our country’s entry procedures. As part of this transformation, the Nigerian Visa Policy 2024 underwent a comprehensive review, resulting in a significant reduction in the visa classifications from 79 to 44.
“These categories have been logically grouped to simplify procedures, reduce complexities and greatly improve the user experience. Importantly, we have maintained the original purpose and intent of each visa class throughout this reform. For the first time, with the introduction of e-visa classes, visa applications to Nigeria can now be completely entirely online—- from submission to approval. thereby, eliminating the need for in-person visits to embassies or consulates.
“Whether you’re a tourist, a business traveller, academic or a Nigerian with dual nationality, the process is now simpler. It’s faster and it’s more accessible. This robust e-visa framework includes 13 specific e-visa classes. Before now, the process was just two classes, which was just the business visa and the tourist visa.
But with the e-visa framework, we have 13 specific e-visa classes. These are carefully designed to accommodate a wide range of short-term travel purposes. Applicants can now choose the most appropriate visa based on the nature of their visit.
By providing clear guidelines and tailored documentation requirements for each category, we have significantly streamlined the process properly. Once a complete and accurate application is submitted, decisions are made within 48 hours. We either let you know that the application is being processed or whether we need more documents or it’s being queried”,she said .