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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja after
Few days after the Federal Government announced the issuance of brown cards to foreigners, Nigerians have picked holes on the project, saying that it would worsen the fragile security situation and safety of Nigeria.
In a letter sent to the Inspector General of Police, the Director General, State Security Service and the Director General, National Intelligence Agency, a group known as Transparency and Eagle Eyes Foundation added that the project would exacerbate the influx of foreign nationals who may come into the country with ulterior motives that may undermine the security system of the country.
According to the group, the plan to introduce a brown card to foreigners is nothing but an attempt to exploit and extort money from the foreigners.
“It is worthy to note that the essence for which the card is designed has been adequately handled by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), through its technical partners, hence the institution should rather be strengthened to curb and/or check any loopholes observed in the existing structure, than to deploy the scarce resources of the country into creating a new system which will create avenues for exploitation and corruption.
“Information at our disposal revealed that the Ministry of Interior has awarded a contract to a certain company, whose name has not been disclosed to the public and some unscrupulous agents had started reaching out to the expatriates through their data base demanding for a whooping sum of $5,000 to get them permanent residency and citizenship.
It is our belief that this plan will create multiple channels of granting permanent residency status to foreigners in Nigeria which will further worsen the fragile security situation and safety of the nation against foreign nationals who may come into the country with ulterior motives that undermine the security system of the country.
“We believe that the whole process was deliberately shrouded in secrecy in order to get monetary gain without the public being aware of anything” the group said.
Recall that on May 27, 2023, Federal government granted
permission to Ministry of Interior to issue out brown cards to foreigners who desire to be Nigerian citizens.
While confering 385 foreign nationals with Nigerian citizenship in Abuja, former Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said that former President Muhammadu Buhari approved that brown cards be issued as permanent permit to willing foreigners who apply to be Nigerian citizens, especially foreign husbands who were impeded by certain clauses in the constitution. ENDS
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