The Nigeria Immigration Service in Ilorin yesterday said it has concluded plan to repatriate about 150 illegal aliens to their countries of origin.

The affected immigrants were nabbed in some areas within the Ilorin metropolis as part of measures to stem the precarious security situation across the country.

The Comptroller of Kwara State command of Immigration Service, Mr. Temilola Esan, who made this known at a press briefing, said the command was putting machinery in place to curtail the menace of illegal border movement.

Esan told reporters that the agency has embarked on a series of exercises to ascertain the identity of aliens residing in the state, saying that the command would repatriate any aliens that failed to register with appropriate authorities.

"From time to time, we carry out our operation in a clamp down on illegal immigrants; we try as much as possible to move out the Non Nigerians who are not properly registered.

"Sometimes ago, the Federal Government launched a new policy that will enable citizens under ECOWAS sub-region and others to register their documents, which was code named as ECOWAS biometric card. It was through this policy that we were able to capture the data of many of them.

"I must also say that among the arrested aliens, we have thieves and escapees. We are going to conduct screening on them and after that; we will hand over criminals among them to the police for further action.

"Last year July, we moved out about 700 illegal immigrants on this same exercise. These people are so many among us.

"We are not angry about people coming here to work, when you come to a place you respect the law of that place; because when you have a farm and allow it overgrown, you are not helping yourself", he stated.

He said the step was necessitated by the prevailing insecurity, just as he maintained that the service would collaborate with other security outfits to stem the situation.

Esan said the Interior Minister, Abba Moro, recently set up a committee on internal security, comprising all stakeholders in the security sector, to forestall the nefarious activities of terrorists at all levels.

The Immigration boss reiterated that the command would leave no stone unturned to rid the state of criminal minded aliens, who according to him, disguise to perpetrate evil.

He later paraded the suspected aliens before newsmen, and vowed that the command would not toy with the security matter in the state.

The Herald observes that the upsurge in the movement of the aliens, particularly from Niger, Chad and Sudan to Nigeria through border areas necessitated the action of immigration service.