Why many Nigerians are in Chinese Prisons – Envoy

Wale Oloko, the consul-general of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Guangzhou, China, on Monday said that many Nigerians are in various prisons in Guangdong Province for overstaying their visas.

Mr. Oloko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that some other Nigerians were also arrested for engaging in drug trafficking and other criminal offences that had led to their detention.

According to him, there are currently about 600 Nigerians arrested for overstaying their visas and in detention for other offences.

“There is no doubt that there are currently a number of Nigerians in various Chinese prisons, at least those under our consular jurisdiction in Guangzhou.

“’These our nationals are in different Chinese prisons for various offences.

“There are those that were arrested for overstaying their visas, while others were convicted for drug trafficking and other offences,’’ he said.

Mr. Oloko also said that some the Nigerian nationals currently in Chinese prisons were being prepared for deportation to Nigeria.

The consul-general, therefore, enjoined Nigerians desirous of visiting any part of China to always obey the Chinese immigration and general laws when in the province or other provinces in China.

“Any Nigerian wanting to visit any part of China must first know something about the country’s immigration requirements, and should be ready to obey laws in such places when they eventually arrive there.

“It is not advisable for any Nigerian to overstay his or her visa in any part of China or engage in any form of criminal act,’’ he said.

Guangdong is a province in South China, located on the South China Sea coast.

The province surpassed Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79.1 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants.

The capital and largest city is Guangzhou and it has a GDP (2016)‎: of 1.2 trillion US dollars.(NAN)