Sopuruchi Onwuka

Some 400 Nigerians serving various jail terms in the United Kingdom face deportation even before they serve out their sentences. This in addition to firmed agreement between Britain and Nigeria to also deport illegal immigrants currently roaming United Kingdom backs to the country.

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This comes in line with agreements reached between the former colonial master and Africa’s most populous nation on prisoner swaps, jail decongestion and migration control.

Under new the terms of agreements that came into effect this week, the Home Office would now be able to deport Nigerians who could not be previously removed until they had completed their jail terms.  The prisoners would now be deported up to a year ahead of their freedom from jails.

Already, the British Home Office declared that 13 Nigerian nationals with no right to be in the UK and eight Ghanaian criminals were removed on Thursday on a chartered flight to their homelands.

British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, announced on Thursday that Nigerians convicted of criminal conduct in United Kingdom would now be sent home to serve their sentences in a boost to deportations.

The Home Secretary has signed a deal with Nigeria to enable the British government quicken the processes of deporting convicted Nigerians back home.

The deal with Nigeria is a boost to an earlier prisoner transfer agreement signed under former Prime Minister David Cameron, which will help underpin the removal of offenders serving sentences in UK jails.

However, the deal will also enable the two countries collaborate better in supporting legal migration, tackling illegal migration and speeding up the removal of foreign criminals. It is one of four such agreements which Britain signed with countries in the past year to speed up deportations amid concerns at the increasing number of foreign criminals freed into the UK community.

The development which is coming after the Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) follows similar deals with Serbia, India and Albania, which account for more than a tenth of the 12,000 foreign criminals currently held in British jails. Some 400 Nigerian offenders are estimated to be part of the number.

A different agreement between United Kingdom and Rwanda provides for migrants who enter the UK illegally would now be sent on a one way ticket to the central African state where they can claim asylum. It is not clear under what conditions and terms deportees from Britain would now seek refuge in Rwanda. `