The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Osun State Command, has arrested 55 irregular migrants in different parts of the state.
The migrants, who are nationals of Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, were paraded in Osogbo on Friday after being apprehended during an intelligence-led operation.
The Osun Comptroller of Immigration, Ibrahim Akinyemi, said the migrants were arrested at various locations after intelligence officers traced their residences.
According to him, the migrants entered Nigeria through unauthorised routes and were found without the required travel documents.
Akinyemi said the operation was carried out following directives from the NIS headquarters and that the migrants would undergo profiling to determine their immigration status.
“These people are about 55. They are irregular migrants. They were arrested and brought here for repatriation,” Akinyemi said.
He explained that immigration officials would examine the migrants’ documents to determine whether any of them were eligible to regularise their stay in Nigeria.
The immigration chief said the migrants did not possess passports or other valid travel documents.
He also alleged that some of them were involved in an online business that had not been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Some of the migrants were reportedly found staying in Owode-Ede, while immigration officials continued efforts to locate others believed to be living in different parts of Osun State.
During interrogation, the migrants reportedly told officials that they came to Nigeria to participate in an online business known as QNET.
Akinyemi said the command would also investigate those responsible for bringing the migrants into Osun State.
“They also claimed to have come through Yola, Adamawa State. By the grace of God, we are taking them back to where they came from,” he said.
One of the migrants, Ismail Mohammed, a Cameroonian, said he arrived in Osun in February 2026 after being invited by a woman living in Chad to participate in an online business.
The immigration authorities said the arrested migrants would be processed for possible repatriation after the necessary investigations and profiling.
The development comes amid continued immigration and security operations targeting irregular migration across different parts of Nigeria.
