Nigerians in Saudi change names to avoid deportation

Nigerian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
(KSA), Alhaji Abubakar Bunu, has said that many
Nigerian emigrants in that country are changing their
names to outsmart authorities and avoid deportation.
Amb. Bunu, who disclosed this to journalists in
Gusau on Saturday, said many of the emigrants had
gone into hiding thereby making it difficult for the
law enforcement agents to trace them.
He explained that in spite od joint efforts by the
Saudi authorities and officials of the Nigerian
Embassy there to locate them, only about 500
persons had been repatriated in the last six months.
He said the embassy had discovered that some of the
emigrants, who had lived there for upwards of 25
years, had crossed through different routes including
Sudan and Yemen or as pilgrims on lesser hajj and
refused to return.
Bunu stated that although the figure of Nigerians
staying illegally in the kingdom was not known, the
Saudi authorities said it was over one million.
He therefore advised Nigerians who want to stay in
the Arabian country to regularise their documents
with the authorities to avoid unwarranted
embarrassment.
Some deportees, who were brought back to Gusau
recently and spoke to NAN on condition of
anonymity, however claimed hat "only when one was
hit with hard luck that the person gets arrested and
deported."
They maintained that many Nigerians still lived
normal lives in Mecca and Madinah by going to the
markets and praying at the Holy Mosques without
being harassed.
They said, "we will still go back whenever we get the
chance," pointing out that, "we still have our family
members and personal belongings there."
NAN reports that the ambassador was in the state to
attend the state's PDP elders and stakeholders
meeting organised by the party's caretaker
leadership in Gusau.