About 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship in 2022 alone, just as “japa syndrome” has increased pressure on passport booklets in the country.
The Ministry of Interior, Permanent Secretary, Dr Shuaib Belgore, announced this while appearing with the Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, on the ministerial media briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.
Belgore said this is against the 150 Nigerians that renounced their citizenships between 2006 to 2021.
In his remarks, Aregbesola, said the massive exodus of Nigerians out of the county in search of greener pastures in a phenomenon now popularly referred to as “Japa syndrome,” is fueling high demands for passports.
He stated that in 2022, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) issued the highest number of passport booklets totalling 1,899,683 in over seven years.
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Aregbesola also revealed that at least 70 foreign nationals have been deported for various infractions in the last two years.
“In the last two years, the Minister issued a total of 70 deportation orders for the deportation of different nationals from Nigeria due to one infraction or the other,” Aregbesola said.
According to him, “the majority of those deported were from the Democratic Republic of Korea, Egypt, Sri Lanka and a host of others
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