The government of India deported about 2,536 Nigerians in five years, recent data has revealed.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that data from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs revealed that the country sanctioned the deportation of over 2,356 Nigerians between 2019 and 2024.
It was also gathered that India deported 2,536 Nigerians after the Bureau of Immigration and Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRRO) adopted a “zero-tolerance” approach toward document discrepancies.
According to official reports, Nigerian nationals represent the highest number of deportees among non-neighboring countries, with the majority of cases linked to expired tourist and student visas.
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year alone, over 1,400 Nigerians were sent back, a figure that eclipsed deportations from neighboring nations like Bangladesh and Uganda.
In the most recent reporting period, from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, Nigerians emerged as the most deported nationality from India, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all foreign nationals removed from the country.
Indian authorities deported over 2,331 persons during the period, with Nigerians representing 63 per cent of all removals carried out by the Foreigners Regional Registration Offices across seven major Indian cities.
They include: Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Amritsar, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.
The figure places Nigeria ahead of neighbouring Bangladesh, which recorded 411 deportations (17.6 per cent), and Uganda, with 78 deportations (3.3 per cent).
Breaking down the annual figures, an average of 122.5 Nigerians were deported monthly from India during the 2023-2024 review period, translating to approximately four deportations per day.
A review of available MHA data shows that the trend of Nigerians topping India’s deportation list is not new but has worsened.
In 2019, India deported 547 Nigerians out of a total of 1,233 foreign nationals removed, 44.3 per cent of all deportations that year.
Bangladesh ranked second with 230, and Afghanistan third with 94.
In 2020, deportations dropped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 258 foreigners deported between April and December.
However, Nigeria did not feature among the top three nationalities for that period.
By 2021, as international travel resumed, 339 Nigerians were deported out of 821 total removals, representing 41.3 per cent. Bangladesh again ranked second with 246, and Afghanistan third with 105.
Deported Nigerians rose from 339 in 2021 to 1,470 in 2023-2024, representing a 333 per cent increase.
Also, Nigeria’s share of total deportations rose from 44 per cent in 2019 to 63 per cent in 2023-2024.
The data shows Uganda as the only other sub-Saharan African country among the top three deported nationalities in the latest report.
Recent data indicate that the total number of Nigerians living and working in India exceeds 60,000, making it the largest West African community in the country.
However, the high deportation numbers have emerged against the backdrop of strengthening diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Security agencies have identified several recurring factors leading to these high figures. The deportations were said to be driven largely by visa overstaying, business violations, and criminal activity.
