A landmark agreement between Britain and Nigeria will make it significantly easier to remove foreign nationals with no legal right to remain in the UK, following talks held during Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s state visit this week.
At the centre of the deal is Nigeria’s decision to formally recognise UK letters — an alternative identification document used when individuals do not hold a valid passport — for the first time. Previously, British authorities were required to wait for emergency travel documents to be issued by the Nigerian government before removals could proceed, a process that frequently caused lengthy delays. That administrative barrier has now been removed.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood negotiated the agreement directly with Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, with both sides framing the accord as a shared commitment to fair and well-managed migration. Annual returns to Nigeria have nearly doubled in recent times, reaching 1,150, while overall removals and deportations of illegal migrants and foreign criminals from the UK have climbed to close to 60,000 since the 2024 general election.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said those who abuse immigration systems or attempt to enter Britain unlawfully “will be stopped and removed”, describing the agreement as another step toward restoring order at the border.
Nigeria’s Interior Minister struck a similarly constructive tone. “Hopefully, this strengthened partnership will be a template for other bilateral understandings,” Dr Tunji-Ojo said, adding that Nigeria was committed to fulfilling its obligations as “a responsible country.”
The deal extends well beyond removals. Both governments have agreed to launch joint operations targeting criminal gangs exploiting visa routes, including those behind fake job sponsorships, sham marriages and forged documentation. A new standardised document-checking system will be introduced to verify the authenticity of immigration applications, while Nigeria has committed to reviewing its domestic laws to ensure tougher sentences are handed down for immigration-related offences.
A separate strand of the partnership focuses on online fraud. A so-called “fusion cell” — bringing together public bodies, banks, technology firms and communications companies — will share intelligence on romance fraud, investment scams and cryptocurrency schemes in near real time. The model is already in use by the UK’s National Economic Crime Centre, with Operation Henhouse in February 2025 resulting in more than 400 arrests and the seizure of £7.5 million.
Earlier this year, the National Crime Agency and the Nigerian Police Force worked with Meta to identify hundreds of cryptocurrency-linked social media accounts targeting UK residents, leading to seven arrests in Agbor, Nigeria.
