The Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Command, arrested 27 women and a 15-year-old boy in the Lagos Mainland area of the state on Thursday.
The suspects were nationals of Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana.
They were said to be without a valid entry passport or visa and would be repatriated as soon as the agency concluded all necessary investigation.
A few of the women were nursing mothers who had their babies strapped to their backs.
While the elderly ones amongst them showed remorse, the young ladies in the group chatted away as they avoided press interview and snapshots.
A woman in her 50s, who identified herself as Mrs Oluwaseun Joseph, from Cotonou, Benin Republic, was in tears as she pleaded for time to get her documents. She said to have been in this country for a long time and that she had all three of her children in the country. She and her children have been living on the money she gathers from carrying loads for people after her husband who is also from Benin Republic, died some years ago
The only male among them which was identified as fifteen-year-old Ishay Befaye said he had been in Lagos for only one month.
He said,
“I am 15 years old. I came to Lagos on my own. My father is dead while my mother is in Benin Republic. I finished learning bricklaying in Benin and I came to Nigeria to find work. I planned to raise enough money and then regularise my papers. I make a lot of money from the work.
“I have a bank account in Lagos where I keep the money. I am just begging them to give me some time to get home and tell my friends that I want to go to the village to get my papers.”
However, despite their pleas, the state Controller, Justina Ahamdu has stated the command would not give the illegal immigrants a second chance as that would be against the law.
She also warned that Nigerians who keep illegal immigrants for cheap labour or obstruct officials of the agency from making arrests, may also be made to face the wrath of the law.
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