BEVERLY HILLS, January 31, (THEWILL) – Six Britons have been arrested by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), at the weekend, following a tip-off on breach of extant laws regulating expatriate quota, as stipulated by the Immigration Act, 2015.
The Britons, who arrived at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport Abuja aboard Aero Airline at about 10am on Saturday, January 30, 2016, were led by the Immigration officials to the screening centre at the immigration headquarters in two vehicles, a light brown Toyota Camry with Registration GWA 579 NV and a Green Honda CRV with Registration No: FE 278 ABJ.
The expatriates were employed by Tilone Subsea Limited, a marine contracting and subsea inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) company, with head office in Port Harcourt which had obtained resident working papers for them from the Immigration Service.
The Britons then embarked on the Christmas/New Year holidays and were expected to return to work with Tilone in January 2016. However, they returned and proceeded to work for another company.
An officer, at the Onne Command of the Immigration Service, who spoke with THEWILL, confirmed the arrest, and disclosed that the six expatiates had been apprehended and were undergoing interrogation with a view to transferring the case to Abuja for necessary action.
“The six Britons arrived Nigeria with visas obtained on their behalf by the Tilone Subsea and proceeded to work for GMT Energy Resources Limited on-board Maersk Normad vessel at Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) Onne,” he said.
“GMT Energy Resources are contractors to a US International Oil Company (IOC) in Nigeria with headquarters in Houston, Texas, and at the time of the arrest of the six expatiates had engaged the men in working in a project for this IOC.”
Piqued by the breach of the contract signed with the Britons, Tilone Subsea Limited, the company that sourced for these expatiates at great cost through one of their UK technical partners, made formal complaints to immigration authorities in Rivers/Bayelsa states and Onne Command.
Officials of Federal Ministry of Interior and the Immigration Service explained that any eligible company proposing to engage the services of expatriates in Nigeria must obtain the Expatriate Quota Approval from the Business and Citizenship Department of the Ministry of Interior.
Part VIII, Sections 56 (1-7); 58; 59; and 60 (1–5) of the Immigration Act, 2015, which provides for the immigration offences and penalties, stipulates a term of imprisonment of 10 years or fine of N2 million for the offence.
All attempts to reach the management of GMT Energy Resource Limited to verify its level complicity were unsuccessful.
Story by David Oputah
