Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and one in all its most resource-rich just isn’t solely a hub for commerce and commerce however has, over time, turn out to be a magnet for foreigners looking for alternatives. Nevertheless, alongside reputable financial engagement lies a darkish and insidious pattern — an growing variety of overseas nationals exploiting Nigeria’s authorized and safety loopholes to commit crimes, GODFREY GEORGE writes
It is usually Nigerians residing overseas who make the headlines for drug-related crimes—paraded by authorities, jailed for trafficking or apprehended at worldwide airports.
However, on October 3, 2024, there was a uncommon prevalence: a Canadian lady, Adrienne Munju, was apprehended whereas making an attempt to smuggle 74 parcels of “Canadian loud,” a potent pressure of artificial hashish, weighing 35.20 kilogrammes, into Nigeria.
She was intercepted at Terminal One of many Murtala Muhammed Worldwide Airport, Lagos, in the course of the routine inward clearance of passengers arriving from Canada.
When confronted, Munju confessed to being recruited on-line to ship the narcotics for 10,000 Canadian {dollars}. She admitted that monetary hardship, exacerbated by the strain of paying for her ongoing grasp’s diploma in Canada, led her to simply accept the job.
Days after her arrest, a Federal Excessive Court docket in Lagos, presided over by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, convicted and sentenced Munju to 11 years in jail after she pleaded responsible to the fees levelled towards her by the Nationwide Drug Legislation Enforcement Company.
After listening to the allocution by her counsel, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Munju to 6 years for rely one and 5 years for rely two. The decide, nonetheless, gave her the choice of a advantageous—N50m on every rely, totalling N100 million.
Munju was not the primary arrest of a overseas nationwide concerned in drug trafficking. Three years earlier, particularly in October 2021, one other vital case was recorded.
The NDLEA arrested 29 suspects, together with 21 overseas crew members and a Thai nationwide, Captain Tanahan Krilerk, aboard the ship MV Chayaneenaree.
They had been caught making an attempt to smuggle over 30kgs of cocaine into Nigeria via the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
Following intelligence studies from worldwide companions and help from the Nigerian Navy, Customs, DSS, and police, the ship was intercepted.
The Federal Excessive Court docket in Lagos granted NDLEA’s utility for interim attachment of the vessel and detained the overseas crew and their Nigerian counterparts concerned within the operation.
Curiously, not a lot was heard concerning the case after it was adjourned until November of the identical 12 months.
Advanced drug networks
These instances reveal the complicated worldwide networks exploiting Nigeria’s porous borders for drug trafficking.
Primarily based on findings, foreigners, significantly from nations with entrenched drug cartels, more and more play energetic roles in importing illicit medication into Nigeria.
With the deepening involvement of overseas syndicates, Nigerian authorities have been compelled to ramp up efforts to curb the influx of narcotics.
The nation’s position as a transit level for onerous medication has grown steadily over time. Whereas overseas traffickers view Nigeria as a delicate goal for entry into bigger markets, Nigerian felony teams have been recognized to collaborate with worldwide cartels to maneuver these medication.
A overseas affairs researcher, Dr Chuka Idika, informed Saturday PUNCH that Nigeria’s strategic location inside West Africa makes it a pure hub for drug smuggling operations.
“Nigeria connects South American cocaine producers to European and Asian drug markets, facilitating the move of heroin from Southeast Asia into West Africa,” he revealed.
This geographical positioning, alongside under-resourced customs, porous borders, and systemic corruption, permits traffickers to benefit from the nation.
In Munju’s case, as in others, corruption performs an underlying position in facilitating these operations.
Regardless of strategic and sustained efforts of regulation enforcement companies and worldwide collaborations, drug cartels persist.
South American cartels, for instance, collaborate with Nigerian operatives to maneuver giant portions of cocaine via Lagos ports.
In return, Nigerian drug lords are linked to methamphetamine distribution throughout Southern Africa and Southeast Asia.
Although Nigerian authorities have made notable arrests, the persistence of such actions alerts a bigger downside: transnational felony networks utilizing Nigeria as a handy gateway within the international narcotics commerce.
These operations reveal that foreigners, a few of whom are undocumented, are more and more exploiting Nigeria’s weaknesses in its struggle towards onerous medication.
Idika added, “Nigeria’s place within the international drug commerce just isn’t merely as a sufferer of overseas operations however as an enabler via collaboration with worldwide crime syndicates. Foreigners, particularly these from nations with drug cartel networks, proceed to use these vulnerabilities.”
In essence, whereas Nigeria has made nice strides in its efforts to fight drug smuggling, the intricate net of overseas and home gamers concerned in trafficking is a reminder of the continuing battle.
Human trafficking
Human trafficking has plagued Nigeria for many years, with the nation performing as each a supply and transit level for trafficked individuals.
International nationals, significantly from North Africa, China, and components of Europe, have performed vital roles in human trafficking rings working within the nation.
These overseas felony syndicates are concerned within the trafficking of Nigerian girls and youngsters for compelled labour, sexual exploitation, and even organ harvesting.
Many of those trafficked people find yourself in nations throughout Europe, the Center East, and Asia, lured with false guarantees of employment solely to finish up as victims of modern-day slavery.
One of the horrifying examples of overseas involvement in human trafficking is the unlawful organ commerce, the place traffickers exploit weak people, typically promising them alternatives or medical help, solely to forcibly take away their organs for revenue.
This illicit commerce not solely violates the rights and dignity of victims but additionally highlights the darker facet of globalisation and the pressing want for stronger worldwide legal guidelines and enforcement mechanisms to fight such atrocities.
There have been studies of Nigerians, significantly youngsters, trafficked to North African and Center Jap nations, the place their organs are harvested and offered on the black market.
This extremely secretive and brutal commerce is facilitated by overseas actors who function with audacious impunity, as native regulation enforcement companies are sometimes underfunded and overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the crime.
In lots of cases, these overseas traffickers, when apprehended, bribe their method out of authorized repercussions or are quietly deported to their residence nations with out dealing with trial in Nigeria.
The powerless victims are left with none hope of justice.
In December 2023, a historic feat was recorded by the Nationwide Company for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Individuals.
In a bid to eradicate the incidents of human trafficking within the Nation, a Federal Excessive Court docket sitting in Jos, Plateau State, presided over by His Lordship, Honourable D.V Agishi, convicted a Lebanese human trafficker, Jabr Iskandar Kfour Sleiman, who sexually exploited quite a few women.
The 61-year-old was slammed with 29 months’ imprisonment with out the choice of a advantageous.
The courtroom additionally ordered the Minister of Inside to deport the Lebanese as a result of his conduct was opposite to the peace, order and company governance of the nation.
The convict was arrested in 2021 by NAPTIP operatives with the help of some stakeholders at B/55/12 Giring Highway Abattoir, Jos South Native Authorities Space, Plateau State, and charged with 16 counts bordering on abuse of place of vulnerability and sexual exploitation of 16 women.
International exploitation
Within the coronary heart of Kano State, a tragic story unfolded that left many questioning the material of affection and justice.
The brilliant gentle of Ummukulsum Buhari, a 23-year-old lady, was extinguished in September 2022 by her Chinese language lover, Geng Quandong.
Identified for her vivacity and desires that soared increased than the clouds, Ummukulsum had aspirations of creating a distinction on the earth.
Her life took a darkish flip when she crossed path with the 47-year-old Chinese language man, whose obsession would in the end result in tragedy.
Quandong’s coronary heart, initially crammed with affection, morphed into one thing extra sinister when Ummukulsum, asserting her independence, refused to marry him. That singular refusal would later price her dearly.
On the night time of September 16, 2022, Quandong, pushed by rage and jealousy, plunged a knife into Ummukulsum’s chest.
With the once-bustling family remodeled right into a chaotic scene of horror as she lay bleeding, neighbours rushed to her support, but it surely was too late.
The echoes of her final breaths would hang-out the corridors of the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, the place medical doctors might solely affirm her useless.
Because the trial started just a few weeks later, the courtroom grew to become a theatre of feelings, with the prosecution presenting their case towards Quandong.
The Lawyer-Normal of the state, Haruna Dederi, representing the state, recounted the chilling occasions of that night time.
He mentioned, “The sufferer was a younger lady with desires and her life was taken by a person consumed by his wishes.”
The decide, Sanusi Ado-Ma’aji, presided over the proceedings, whereas giving his judgment, declared, “The defendant’s testimony is inconsistent. I hereby discover him responsible.”
In a world the place the wealthy typically evade the implications of their actions, the courtroom buzzed with a combination of aid and disbelief. Justice was served, however at what price?
Ummukulsum’s mom, Fatima Zubairu, sat within the gallery, tears streaming down her face as she grappled with the overwhelming ache of dropping her daughter.
Human rights abuse
Oluwajimi Ogungbona by no means imagined that September 27, 2021 can be a day his life would take a flip for the more serious.
The 50-year-old father of 4 and a mechanic with years of experience in wheel alignment and balancing, had constructed a reputation for himself in Ogun State.
He was no stranger to late-night calls from shoppers, particularly from one Pastor Jacob Jide, a loyal buyer, who had launched him to a Chinese language expatriate named Jeff.
What ought to have been one other routine day of labor, nonetheless, shortly grew to become an episode of horror, violence, and injustice.
“I had reservations about going that night,” Ogungbona recalled, his voice heavy with the load of the reminiscence.
The solar had set, and he felt a tug of unease in his chest, however brushed it apart, trusting Jide, his long-time shopper and buddy.
“Jide had all the time referred to as me to work on his automobiles within the night, and it was by no means an issue. However this time, I wasn’t going to see him. I used to be going to see the Chinese language.”
The connection with Jeff, the expatriate, had not been with out its challenges. Months earlier, the Chinese language man had accused Ogungbona of stealing a catalyst from one in all his automobiles, an accusation that reduce deep into the mechanic’s integrity.
“I used to be damage. I solely do wheel alignment and balancing. What would I be doing with a catalyst? I’m not a thief!” Ogungbona’s voice cracks as he remembers the second.
However regardless of the strain, the Chinese language expatriate nonetheless entrusted him along with his automobiles, and Ogungbona saved working for him.
He thought the previous was behind them however little did he know he was strolling right into a entice.
“After I acquired to his home with my 18-year-old son, he requested me the identical query once more, ‘What did you do to my Highlander?’ Earlier than I might reply, he kicked me in my non-public components.”
The ache was fast and sharp. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony, barely in a position to course of what was taking place.
Confused, he reached for his telephone and referred to as Jide, hoping his long-time shopper would assist him out of this nightmare.
“Jide got here, however even he couldn’t cease what was about to occur,” Ogungbona mentioned.
Three troopers appeared from the shadows, menacing and detached. They had been there to guard the Chinese language man, and he quickly realised they noticed him as lower than human. “They mentioned I needed to ‘use the person’s head’ as a result of he was a foreigner,” Ogungbona remembers bitterly. “And that’s once they began beating me.”
Within the following two hours, the mechanic endured unimaginable cruelty. The troopers tied his legs and arms, stripped him bare, and beat him mercilessly. With every blow, Ogungbona’s dignity and humanity had been stripped away.
As if the bodily ache wasn’t sufficient, the Chinese language expatriate reappeared with a chilling concoction—pepper and salt—which he smeared into Ogungbona’s wounds and eyes.
“He rubbed it in my eyes, and I couldn’t see. I used to be screaming, writhing in ache. The troopers threw me into the yard like I used to be an animal, ready for me to die.”
His son, witnessing his father’s ordeal, frantically referred to as for assist. When the police lastly arrived, they had been met with hostility from the troopers, who threatened to shoot anybody who dared open the gate.
Ogungbona remembers the faint voice of the police officer begging to be let in: “I’m a policeman! I’m a policeman!”
His phrases appeared to thaw the troopers’ cruelty, and so they rushed to untie Ogungbona and dragged him exterior.
They informed him he had been “forgiven” by the Chinese language, as if mercy had been bestowed upon him for a criminal offense he by no means dedicated.
Bruised, battered, and half-blind, Ogungbona staggered into the arms of the police.
“If it wasn’t for the police and the boys who got here, I’d have died that night time,” Ogungbona mentioned.
His voice trembling, the trauma nonetheless contemporary. His eyesight was broken past restore, leaving him depending on costly eyeglasses simply to see.
The beating had ravaged his physique, and the once-strong mechanic now handed blood in his urine. His store needed to shut, and with it, his technique of livelihood.
The case was ultimately transferred to the Prison Investigation Division in Eleweran, the place Jeff, the Chinese language expatriate, was briefly detained earlier than being launched on bail.
The troopers, nonetheless, have but to face any penalties for his or her actions.
“I do know their faces. Considered one of them is Olushola (surname withheld). I can level him out. However they haven’t been arrested.”
This injustice—this brutal assault by troopers sworn to guard Nigerian residents, all in service of a foreigner— left Ogungbona damaged, each bodily and emotionally.
He’s now a person in limbo, robbed of his means to work, struggling to outlive along with his youngsters, and traumatised to see his assailants stroll free.
“I’m not a slave. I’m a citizen of Nigeria,” he says, his voice rising with emotion. “I’ve nothing, nobody in excessive locations to struggle for me. However I cannot relaxation till I get justice.”
Human proper activists have over time famous that the Nigerian authorities, whereas vocal about defending its residents, has been gradual to deal with the rising problem of exploitation by foreigners.
Identical to others, Ogungbona’s case reveals a troubling indifference to the plight of on a regular basis Nigerians, who typically discover themselves on the mercy of these with energy, cash, and safety from authorities.
N’West insurgency
Foreigners from neighbouring nations like Benin, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon have lengthy performed an intricate position in Nigeria’s ongoing disaster with Boko Haram, banditry, insurgency, and the escalating farmer-herder battle.
These overseas actors, typically neglected within the broader narrative, have had vital involvement within the violence that continues to destabilise giant swaths of Nigeria, significantly within the North-East and North-West areas.
The transnational nature of those crises—the place overseas militants, mercenaries, and bandits infiltrate Nigeria’s porous borders—has created a fancy net of insecurity that many specialists argue can’t be solved with out addressing overseas complicity and collaboration.
Boko Haram, which emerged as a violent jihadist group in Nigeria round 2009, remodeled right into a regional menace with the capability to recruit and function throughout borders.
The group has leveraged Nigeria’s geographic proximity to neighbouring nations, significantly Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, to ascertain logistical help and recruit fighters.
The position of overseas fighters in Boko Haram’s operations has been properly documented. A United Nations Safety Council report from 2016 famous that overseas combatants, together with Chadians and Nigeriens, had been a part of Boko Haram’s ranks.
It additional revealed that these fighters typically crossed Nigeria’s porous borders, benefiting from the restricted state presence and huge ungoverned areas within the Sahel.
One key determine that has highlighted this transnational facet is safety knowledgeable, Bulama Bukarti, a distinguished analyst of Boko Haram and jihadist exercise in West Africa.
He has repeatedly identified that Boko Haram’s survival and resilience are partially attributable to their means to attract recruits from neighbouring nations, significantly Chad and Niger.
These fighters typically share comparable cultural and ethnic backgrounds with their Nigerian counterparts, making it simpler to mix into native communities.
In a bit printed by the Tony Blair Institute for International Change, Bukarti famous that “Chad has been each a sufferer and contributor to the Boko Haram insurgency.
The nation’s position as a recruitment floor and protected haven for the group’s fighters has typically been understated, however Chad’s contribution to the issue is as vital as its efforts to fight it.”
In 2015, Nigerian authorities arrested a number of overseas Boko Haram members, together with Chadians, who had been concerned in orchestrating suicide bombings and assaults in Nigeria. These arrests revealed the deepening position that overseas nationals had been taking part in within the insurgency.
In 2021, the Nigerian Military confirmed that a number of Chadian fighters had been killed throughout a conflict with Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State, additional underscoring the group’s reliance on overseas militants.
Farmer-herder disaster
International herders, significantly from Chad, Mali, and Niger, have additionally been accused of exacerbating the farmer-herder battle, with some studies suggesting that they take part in banditry and contribute to the rising lawlessness in rural areas throughout the North-West, North-East and Center Belt areas.
The inflow of overseas herders into Nigeria is pushed by local weather change, desertification, and regional instability.
As grazing land within the Sahel turns into more and more scarce, herders are pushed southward into Nigeria, resulting in competitors with native farmers over fertile land. Many of those overseas herders are armed, and studies counsel that some have hyperlinks to felony networks or bandit teams.
A examine by the Worldwide Disaster Group highlighted how overseas herders, lots of whom are closely armed and accustomed to violent battle, have contributed to the escalation of violence in Nigeria.
The Nigerian authorities has typically acknowledged the position of those overseas actors, with former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, stating that most of the Fulani herders concerned within the assaults had been foreigners from Mali and Libya, fleeing regional conflicts and bringing their weapons with them.
The Armed Battle Location and Occasion Information Mission additionally recognized overseas involvement in most of the assaults attributed to Fulani herders.
Their evaluation confirmed that non-Nigerian Fulani fighters had been concerned in a number of high-profile assaults on farming communities, additional complicating efforts to resolve the disaster.
Additionally, the rise of banditry in Nigeria, significantly within the Northwest, has been probably the most alarming safety developments lately.
Massive swaths of the area have turn out to be lawless, with armed teams—generally known as bandits—terrorising villages, kidnapping for ransom, and stealing cattle. Many of those bandits are believed to have ties to overseas felony networks, additional blurring the traces between home and worldwide crime.
In 2019, Nigeria’s safety forces arrested a bunch of Nigerien and Chadian bandits concerned in cross-border cattle rustling and kidnapping. These overseas criminals, based on Nigerian authorities, had been half of a bigger community that had been terrorising communities throughout Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina states.
These arrests, it was famous, underscored the transnational nature of the banditry disaster and the position of foreigners in fuelling the violence.
Porous borders
Nigeria’s borders, significantly these with Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, have lengthy posed vital safety challenges.
The Lake Chad Basin, the place these nations meet, has been a essential level of insecurity, permitting Boko Haram and different rebel teams to navigate freely throughout borders.
The absence of efficient border controls has additionally enabled bandits and overseas criminals to enter Nigeria with relative ease.
In keeping with a report from the United Nations Workplace on Medicine and Crime, Nigeria’s porous borders function a main entry route for unlawful arms, intensifying each insurgency and banditry. The report estimated that roughly 70 per cent of small arms circulating in West Africa are in Nigeria, with many smuggled via borders with Niger and Chad.
In varied safety operations, Nigerian authorities have arrested overseas fighters, significantly from Chad and Niger.
In a single case, a number of Chadian nationals had been detained for smuggling arms into Nigeria to help Boko Haram.
The militants confessed to working with Nigerian insurgents to destabilise the area.
The query of overseas complicity in Nigeria’s violence has been debated for years. Some specialists argue that neighbouring governments, particularly Chad and Niger, haven’t taken ample motion to cease their residents from becoming a member of Boko Haram or participating in banditry. Moreover, some counsel that officers in these nations would possibly flip a blind eye to overseas militants’ actions, whether or not attributable to corruption or political instability.
Analyst Bukarti mentioned there’s a want for enhanced regional cooperation to deal with the problem of overseas fighters and cross-border crime.
He means that strengthening the Multinational Joint Job Power — which incorporates Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon — is important for countering the rising hyperlinks between overseas criminals and Nigerian insurgents.
“There’s little doubt that overseas nationals have performed a big position within the ongoing violence in Nigeria, significantly within the Northeast and Northwest. However what’s extra regarding is the chance that some overseas actors are collaborating with Nigerian militants to perpetuate the violence,” Bukarti wrote in one in all his analyses.
One other trans-border battle researcher, Mr Azeez Al-Hakim, said that the position of foreigners in Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency, Farmer-Herder disaster, and banditry is plain.
“Addressing this problem would require extra than simply home safety measures. Nigeria should strengthen its diplomatic ties with neighbouring nations and work in the direction of a regional answer that addresses the foundation causes of cross-border militancy. Strengthening border controls, growing intelligence sharing, and enhancing the capability of the Multinational Joint Job Power are essential steps on this course,” he famous, in an interview with our correspondent.
Govt efforts
The Comptroller Normal of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, has introduced that the modernisation of Nigeria’s border safety infrastructure is underway.
The CG highlighted the progress being made to reinforce border administration techniques, emphasizing the significance of adopting superior applied sciences and techniques to safeguard the nation’s frontiers.
In a press release by the Immigration Spokesperson, Kenneth Udo, a duplicate of which was obtained by our correspondent on Sunday, the CG disclosed this throughout a current tour of immigration instructions in Lagos, Ogun, and different South-West states.
Nandap additionally urged service personnel to take care of professionalism, promising to prioritize their welfare.
In the meantime, the Federal Authorities has introduced plans to streamline Nigeria’s immigration course of via the introduction of e-gate know-how, as a part of its broader efforts to modernise border administration.
This was disclosed on Monday by the Minister of Inside, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in a press release on his official Fb web page.
The minister presided over a presentation on the newly designed built-in border administration system for the Nigeria Immigration Service, which mixes experience to reinforce nationwide safety and facilitate seamless, reputable journey into and in a foreign country.
He defined that e-gate know-how is an automatic border management system designed to ease the entry and exit of travellers at immigration checkpoints.
“On the coronary heart of this technique is our e-gate facility, which automates vetting processes and reduces passengers’ wait occasions throughout their entry into the nation,” the minister said.