Nigeria and the United Kingdom have expressed a willingness to strengthen their collaboration on migration.

A statement signed by Atinuke Akande-Alegbe, spokeswoman for the British High Commission in Abuja on Tuesday, said the commitment was made at the just-concluded Annual Migration, Justice and Home Affairs dialogue in London.

Ms Akande-Alegbe said the discussions reaffirmed the strong relationship between Nigeria and the UK, with commitments made across a range of priority areas of mutual interest.

She acknowledged the commendable collaboration between the two countries on migration and countering criminality in all its forms.

“In this spirit of collaboration, there was agreement to raise awareness of our respective internal systems and cultures within each country.

“Nigeria and the UK expressed mutual appreciation for ongoing efforts to prevent vulnerable young people from being engaged in criminality, intercepting and disrupting organised crime groups trafficking people and illicit commodities.

“They also agreed on new opportunities to work together to combat online fraud,” she said.

She added that both countries recognised the need for improved engagement and information sharing between their governments and high commissions.

According to her, they expressed a commitment to proactively engage with relevant authorities to resolve outstanding issues and promote their joint work to the public.

She also said that the significance of returning nationals with no right to remain in each other’s territories was mutually agreed upon, facilitated by the 2022 Memorandum of Understanding on Migration Partnership.

“Both sides pledged to explore a deeper migration partnership and welcomed progress towards a criminal record data-sharing arrangement through technical working groups, the latest of which took place on March 20.

“This work will form the foundations for a deeper relationship on criminal records data sharing,” she said.

The communication officer also said that Nigeria’s and the UK’s collaborative efforts on these issues underscored their shared commitment to tackling crime and destabilising factors directly, highlighting the depth of the relationship between the two countries.

She added that both countries were committed to further meetings to assess progress on the commitments made ahead of the next annual talks and ongoing regular engagement.

She said that Nigeria would host the next annual Migration, Justice, and Home Affairs talks in 2025.

Ms Akande-Alegbe revealed that the next talks would include contributions and participation from all relevant ministries, departments, and agencies from Nigeria and the UK.

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, expressed satisfaction at the partnership between Nigeria and the UK.

”Last week, we reaffirmed our commitment to working closely together to disrupt organised crime groups who facilitate illicit trafficking, tackle illegal migration, and ensure that those with legitimate travel continue to visit our respective countries

”We look forward to building our partnership further on areas of mutual interest and ultimately making our countries safer for citizens,” he said. 

(NAN)