“Please, I want you to declare me wanted”— Nigerian man in abroad tells Police 

The Lagos State Police Command has narrated a shocking account of how a Nigerian seeking asylum abroad asked the police to declare him wanted. 

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) had in December 2023 said no fewer than 260,000 Nigerians approached the IOM for assistance to leave the country in 2023.

Analysts said that the current rise in migration is not unrelated with the living cost crisis Nigeria is going through.

But in a social media post, the Spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said he was stupefied when a Nigeria asked that the police declare him wanted so that he could apply for asylum.

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“‘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.

“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 wrote.