‘It’ll worsen insecurity,’ Akpabio appeals Germany to shelve proposed deportation of 12,000 Nigerians

President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has urged the German government not to send back 12,000 illegal immigrants to Nigeria, claiming that doing so will make the nation’s security issues worse.

During a courtesy visit in Abuja on Wednesday, German Ambassador to Nigeria Annette Gunther paid Akpabio a call.

In her speech, Gunther stated that Germany and Nigeria are both significant economies in Europe and Africa, respectively, and as such, they can work together.

“We are honoured to be here today. Nigeria and Germany being the largest economies and population in their respective continents, need to come together in their peoples’ interests. Nigeria is Germany’s second largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa,” the German envoy said.

In his speech, Akpabio acknowledged that Nigeria is struggling with insecurity and urged Germany to collaborate with Nigeria in the fields of power and security in order to further Nigeria’s sociopolitical development.

Subsequently, the Senate President implored Gunther to assist Nigeria, the country with the greatest population in Africa, in combating insecurity and bolstering its economy.

He pleaded with the German government to stop deporting 12,000 undocumented immigrants who were originally from Nigeria since doing so could make the nation even more unstable.

“We also have a problem of infiltration from other countries. We require assistance from Germany in the area of security because when we had the Boko Haram issues in the North East, it might not have escalated to the level it did if we had the support of major players like Germany and others,” he said.

“It was very difficult for us to get support from America at that time, maybe due to what they read on social media concerning us. If developed countries stop listening to social media, they would be willing to assist developing countries.