In a bizarre twist on asylum applications, a Nigerian man seeking refuge abroad has caused a stir by requesting the police to declare him wanted.
The incident, narrated on Saturday by Lagos State Police Command spokesperson SP Benjamin Hundeyin on X, bring to the fore the desperation of some to flee their home country.
According to Hundeyin, the man approached him with a seemingly outlandish request: “Please, declare me wanted!”
He wrote, “‘Please, declare me wanted!’ I was stupefied. I blinked and looked at him again. ‘What did you say,’ I asked.
“Please, I want you to declare me wanted,’ he repeated.
“Why do you want to be declared wanted,’ I inquired, amused.
The Nigerian added that he needed the police declaration as evidence of persecution for his asylum application.
“Actually, I am applying for asylum at xyz Embassy. During the interview, I told them that I am being persecuted to the point of being declared wanted by the Police.
“‘They now asked for evidence of the ‘wanted’ declaration. I can easily do the artwork but I know they will come and verify. That is why I want it from the source,’” Hundeyin quoted the man as saying.
This unusual plea sparked curiosity and amusement in equal measure. Hundeyin, naturally, refused the request, explaining the implications and consequences of such a declaration.
The incident comes to the fore same day after a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, encouraged Nigerians to shun japa—the act of fleeing the country for greener pastures—and stay in Nigeria to build it.
Amaechi, who spoke on a ARISE News show, Perspective, had added that there are several opportunities in Nigeria that citizens leaving the country will not find accessible in a foreign land.
However, Babatunde Fashola, a former Minister of Works and Housing and ex-governor of Lagos, holds a different view. According to him, Japa, or emigration, is a global phenomenon that is not unique to Nigeria.
He said, “The world is imminently migrating and travelling at a pace perhaps never witnessed before in human history. ‘Japa’ shouldn’t be used to measure how bad or good Nigeria is. My dream about Nigeria is a place where every person’s dream can come true. It is the driving force of my book about the fulfilment of the possibility of Nigeria as my dream.”
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