Gusau – 1 Base Ammunition Depot
of the Nigerian Army, Gusau, said it had repatriated 226 foreign donkeys to
Niger Republic.
Maj. Hamman Saleh,
the Commandant of the depot, told Journalists while loading the donkeys at the
Tsafe military check point, Zamfara, that the donkeys were intercepted in the
bush on Monday along with their 49 owners.
Saleh said due to
the security challenges in the country, the donkeys and their owners were
apprehended and searched to detect possible concealed weapons.
He, however, said
that only axes and cutlasses were found in their possession, adding that the
intruders, however, gained entry into the country illegally.
Saleh said the
suspects had been handed over to the state’s command of immigration service.
The Comptroller of
Immigration Service in the state, Alhaji Shattima Mailafiya confirmed the
development.
Mailafiya said that
the suspects, mostly Nigeriens, would be repatriated to their country.
He said already,
the state government had provided three trucks for the exercise through the
Nigeria/Niger border at Illela in Sokoto State.
Mailafiya said that
about 68 other illegal aliens had been repatriated in the last four months
through the same border.
He, however,
appealed to the state government to continue to support the command, especially
with vehicles to enable it combat the activities of foreign nationals sneaking
into the country without legal permits.
Meanwhile, some of
the donkey owners said that they were in Nigeria to seek for menial jobs during
the dry season.
They said the
donkeys were used for hawking fire wood while some were sold to ready-made
buyers when the fire wood business was not moving as expected. (NAN)
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