Japa: The rate at which Nigerians are leaving the country is worrisome — Nigerian Immigration Service

Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has expressed concern over the alarming rate Nigerians are leaving the country in search of greener pastures abroad, describing it as a “worrisome phenomenon”.

The Comptroller of Immigration Service (NIS) in Enugu State, Mr. Joachim Olumba, said this on Thursday, November 4, at a sensitization campaign on the scourge of Smuggling of Migrants (SOM) for stakeholders in Enugu State.

According to PM News, he said: “Indeed, this program couldn’t have been held at a more appropriate time, considering the alarming rate at which, not only the youth, but older generation of Nigerians exhibit interest to leave the country.

This is creating a worrisome phenomenon which has come to be popularly known in local parlance as Japa.”

He said that the appetite to jet out of the country was usually driven largely by social, economic and security concerns. Adding that Nigerians, especially the youth, were leaving the shores of the country in their droves.

“To many, what is paramount is to achieve the goal of migrating from the country and not the means of reaching their destinations. Whether they are sm#ggled or tr@fficked, or they even get to leave the country by means of a stowaway, does not really matter to them.

The ultimate interest is to relocate to foreign lands. As far as the vast majority are concerned, the end will eventually justify the means,” he added.