The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) deported 64 irregular immigrants and repatriated 1,132 others in 2020.
The NIS provided the figures in its 2020 Annual Report released on Tuesday.
Bimbola Ojo, Assistant Comptroller-General, Planning, Research and Statistics, said 3,112 Nigerians were refused departure, while 3,563 foreigners were denied entry due to COVID-19.
The official said the pandemic caused a sharp reduction in the movement of people into the country by land and air.
However, there was a huge rise in the number of immigrants through sea borders.
“In 2019, 40,872 immigrants made their way to the country through the sea. The figure shot up to 213,116 immigrants in 2020. This represents an increase of 13.5 per cent in 2020 compared to 7 per cent in 2019.”
The agency recorded a 68.7 per cent decrease in the total number of immigrants last year.
ACJ Ojo added that the agency recorded a decrease in the number of asylum seekers in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Furthermore, the total number of passports issued in 2020 for Standard, Official and Diplomatic were 764,294 compared to 1,198,275 in 2019.
