News

Trump’s Crackdown: FG To Receive Nigerian Deportees As Non-Americans Are Deported In Handcuffs

Published

6 months ago

February 2, 2025

Editor

As reactions continue to trail the planned deportation of about 5, 144 Nigerians illegally living in the United States (US), the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, has said that the Federal Government is ready to welcome them home.

According to reports, no fewer than 5,144 Nigerians may be affected in the initial stage of the ongoing deportation exercises from the US as President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants continues.

The figure includes non-US citizens of Nigerian origin in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, and Enforcement and Removal Operations, ERO, non-detained docket with final orders of removal from the US and those already in ICE detention.

According to the data, 772 of the 1,454 Nigerians in ICE custody were arrested and detained for criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, while the rest were arrested for other immigration violations, such as visa overstays.

It further showed that 417 were arrested and removed as of November 2024, while 884 were removed between 2019 and 2024.

The disclosure by ICE comes at a time when the newly inaugurated administration of President Trump is implementing an immigration policy aimed at ridding the United States of illegal immigrants.

There have been issues surrounding the deportations with at least three countries, Mexico, Columbia and Brazil, alleging that their nationals were returned home in a degrading manner and there are fears the treatment could be extended to Nigerian deportees.

Columbia specifically said the deportees to the country were airlifted in military planes, handcuffed and treated like criminals.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the military deportation flights and said he would never carry out a raid to return handcuffed Americans to the U.S.

“We are the opposite of the Nazis,” he wrote in a post on social media platform X.

He also said however that Colombia would welcome home deported migrants on civilian planes, and offered his presidential plane to facilitate their “dignified return”.

Trump had threatened tariffs and sanctions on Colombia to punish it for earlier refusing to accept military flights carrying the deportees as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown.

But in a statement, the White House said Colombia had agreed to accept the migrants after all and Washington would not impose its threatened penalties.

The use of U.S. military aircraft to carry out deportation flights is unusual.

U.S. military aircraft carried out two flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala penultimate Friday.
Mexico also refused a request to let a U.S. military aircraft land with migrants.

Trump has said he is thinking about imposing 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1 to force further action against illegal immigrants and fentanyl flowing into the US.

Brazil’s foreign ministry, on its part, condemned “degrading treatment” of Brazilians after migrants were handcuffed on a commercial deportation flight.

Upon arrival, some passengers also reported mistreatment during the flight, according to reports.

The plane, which was carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 U.S. security agents, and eight crew members, had been originally scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

However, at an unscheduled stop due to technical problems in Manaus, capital of Amazonas, Brazilian officials ordered removal of the handcuffs, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) flight to complete their journey, the government said in a statement.

The commercial charter flight was the second this year from the U.S. carrying undocumented migrants deported back to Brazil and the first since Trump’s inauguration, according to Brazil’s federal police.
Speaking to Sunday Vanguard, Chairman/CEO NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri, restated to Sunday Vanguard the position of the Director of Media and Corporate Affairs of the commission, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, who spoke earlier to Vanguard on Wednesday.

She said, “Except you want to interview the Minister of Foreign Affairs for his own perspective. NiDCOM Director of Media and Corporate Affairs, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, already told Vanguard that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in charge of such development and that the Federal Government had already set up an inter-agency committee to handle the matter should Nigerians be deported from the US.

“The Federal Government has set up an inter-agency committee, comprising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NiDCOM, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, should there be mass deportation of Nigerians from the US”, she said.

Also reacting to the development, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Joe Keshi, insisted that if the President Tinubu-led government decides to improve the economy, the Japa syndrome would reduce drastically and people would decide to stay back in their country.

He said, “There’s no way it can affect our economy. If the Federal Government improves the economy, people will stay; it’s just the family they have been sending money to that would suffer because they won’t have money as they used to have before. Unless they find another means of survival.”

News

Church Of Nigeria Formally Cuts Ties With Wales Over Lesbian Archbishop

Published

8 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has officially cut all ties with the Church in Wales following the appointment of Bishop Cherry Vann, an openly lesbian cleric, as the 15th Archbishop of Wales.

The decision was announced by the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba, who described the development as ‘an abomination’ and a serious departure from biblical truth.

The announcement came during the opening session of the 14th Church of Nigeria Conference of Chancellors, Registrars and Legal Officers, held on Tuesday at the Church’s national secretariat in Abuja.

With the theme ‘Called as a Watchman’, the event brought together legal minds from across the Church to discuss matters of doctrinal integrity, justice, and governance.

Primate Ndukuba delivered the keynote address titled ‘The Decade of the Reign of God: Progress, Challenges, and Prospects.’

Reacting to the Church in Wales’ elevation of a lesbian bishop, the Primate said, “We reject the election of the Right Reverend Cherry Vann as the Archbishop of Wales.”

He compared it to the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson in the Episcopal Church (USA), which had also led to Nigeria severing ties with that province.

“Just as the Church of Nigeria took steps after the election of Gene Robinson in the United States, we are severing every tie and relationship with the Church of Wales,” he said.

Primate Ndukuba also criticised what he described as the growing influence of revisionist teachings within sections of the Western Church.

“These individuals have not relented from their evil agenda; rather, they have intensified it. What they call their wisdom and culture is an abomination to God,” he declared.

Despite cutting formal ties with the Church in Wales, the Church of Nigeria reaffirmed its support for orthodox Anglicans in the region through platforms such as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).

“We pray that the Church of God in Wales will rise up, and that the faithful among them will stand strong. We, the Church of Nigeria, alongside GAFCON, will stand with them,” Ndukuba assured.

Looking ahead, the Primate said the Church of Nigeria plans to expand its global mission, with new registrations underway in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland.

“We feel that the Lord is calling us back to Europe for mission,” he said.

The Primate also used the opportunity to highlight the Church’s ongoing contributions to the GAFCON movement.

He revealed that the Church of Nigeria had recently contributed $2.5 million to the GAFCON Endowment Fund and was planning a local Nigerian GAFCON Endowment worth $2.3 million to support orthodox Anglican work and mission.

On constitutional and legal matters, Ndukuba urged legal officers to strengthen the Church’s internal reforms and national engagement.

“You are to understand yourselves to be watchmen for the Church. You defend the Church against all forms of aggression. As modern-day watchmen, we must first listen to God, then speak His truth in love, knowing our duty lies in obedience,” he said, calling on legal professionals to support the Church’s constitutional review and advocate for a new Nigerian constitution.

News

EFCC Arraigns Six Katsina Revenue, Bank Workers Over N1.2bn Fraud

Published

9 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday arraigned five officials of the Katsina State Board of Internal Revenue and a staff of First Bank over an alleged N1.2 billion fraud.

The accused were brought before Justice Musa Danladi of the Katsina State High Court by the Commission’s Kano Zonal Directorate on a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy and diversion of public funds.

According to the anti-graft agency in a statement on Wednesday, the total sum allegedly diverted is N1,235,330,000, said to be tax remittances from the World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Alliance for International Medical Action, which were due to the Katsina State Government.

The defendants, Nura Lawal, Sanusi Mohammed Yaro, Ibrahim Mamman, Abubakar Saidu, Rabiu Adamu Abdullahi, and Adam Alhassan Albashir, a Public Sector Relationship Manager with First Bank, were all docked and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

One of the charges reads:
“That you Nura Lawal, Sanusi Mohammed Yaro, Ibrahim Mamman, Abubakar Saidu, Rabiu Adamu Abdullahi and Adam Alhassan Albashir between January, 2022 to August, 2024 at Katsina within the jurisdiction of the Katsina State High Court, being staff of Board of Internal Revenue Services (BOIRS), Katsina and Public Sector Relationship Manager of First Bank, in such capacity conspired among yourselves to commit an unlawful act to wit: unlawfully converted to your personal uses the tax payments meant for the Katsina State Government and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58 of the Penal Code Law of Katsina State and punishable under Section 298 of the Same Law.”

After their plea, prosecution counsel Musa Isah urged the court to fix a trial date to enable the Commission prove its case.

However, the defence counsels filed separate bail applications for the six defendants, requesting their release pending trial. Isah opposed the applications.

Justice Danladi, after listening to both sides, granted bail to each defendant in the sum of N5m with one reliable surety resident within the court’s jurisdiction.

The Judge said surety must possess verifiable landed property, with the title documents to be verified by the court registrar.

The case was adjourned to October 27, 2025, for the commencement of trial.

According to EFCC investigations, Rabiu Abdullahi, a former Director of Collections and current Permanent Secretary of the Board, allegedly authorised the opening of an account named “BOIRS” with Sterling Bank. Sanusi Mohammed Yaro and Ibrahim Mamman were appointed as the sole signatories.

The commission said the account became the main channel for funnelling the diverted funds to NADIKKO General Suppliers, a company allegedly owned and controlled by Nura Lawal, an Assistant Director in the Career Skills/Staff Welfare unit of the Board.

EFCC findings also showed that NADIKKO and Lawal served as key conduits in laundering the proceeds, which were traced to multiple bank accounts linked to the suspects.

News

FG Urges Nigerians Abroad To Register With Embassies For Emergency Support

Published

9 hours ago

August 7, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has called on Nigerians travelling abroad to register with Nigerian embassies and consulates in their host countries to enable timely intervention during emergencies.

The appeal was made by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Ahmed, during a meeting with the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria, led by its Chairman, Idehai Frederick, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to DICAN, Amb. Ahmed stressed the importance of informing Nigerian missions upon arrival in foreign countries, rather than waiting until problems arise.

“I advise Nigerians to make it a point of duty to make their presence known to the Nigerian mission in the country they’re visiting.

“This simple step can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure that Nigerians receive the support they need in times of crisis.

“There was a recent case of Nigerians trapped in the Central African Republic, where some Nigerians tried to give the Ministry a bad name,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary highlighted the role of timely and accurate information in managing crises and emphasised the need for closer collaboration with media organisations like DICAN to combat misinformation.

“Most of the time, giving the necessary information before they even ask for information is crucial in managing crises effectively.

“We are saddled with the role of laundering the image of the country. Hence, the inevitability of a strengthened partnership between DICAN and the Ministry,” Perm. Sec. noted.

He underscored the significance of disseminating accurate narratives about Nigeria’s foreign policy, particularly in the face of growing disinformation.

Ambassador Ahmed also commended DICAN for hosting the maiden Diplomatic and Security International Conference, which brought together about 70 diplomats, security experts, academics, and representatives of civil society to discuss strategies for global safety and peace.

In appreciation of the Ministry’s cooperation, DICAN Chairman said, “The Permanent Secretary has shown commitment to working with DICAN, and we appreciate his efforts in promoting a positive image of Nigeria.”