The European Union (EU) Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms Virginie Battu-Henriksson has said the EU may impose strict visa policies on Nigeria if the African country fails to play its role in the return and readmission of its nationals staying illegally in the EU territory.

Despite reports that the number of Nigerians entering the EU declined last year, Battu-Henriksson explained that Nigerians are still among the top 10 nationalities illegally residing in the EU.

Another issue that was raised includes the activities of Nigerian criminal networks in EU regions, most of whom are involved in fraud and human trafficking. “Nigerian criminal networks remain active in Europe, and Nigeria remains the main non-EU country of origin for victims of trafficking (mainly women) registered in the EU.”

She further said if the Nigerian government does not cooperate in the readmission of its citizens residing illegally in the EU, the council could consider similar actions to the United States of America’s recent travel ban on Nigeria.

Currently, the EU is considering new rules for the processing of short-stay visa applications, depending on whether a non-EU country cooperates satisfactorily on the return and readmission of their nationals staying irregularly in the EU.

The new measures will include regular evaluation in the level of cooperation of non-EU countries on the readmission of irregular migrants. The commission, together with member states, can also decide on a temporary/more restrictive implementation of certain provisions of the visa code.

“This could have an impact on the processing time, the length of validity of the visa to be issued, the level of the visa fee to be charged and the fee waivers. It is important to note that this mechanism does not amount to a visa ban and does not call into question the right to submit an application for a visa or to be granted a visa. It only allows for a more restrictive implementation of some of the visa rules. This concerns short-stay visas to the Schengen area, covering stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.”

Battu-Henriksson recalled that in 2016, an EU Council decision authorized the opening of negotiations on the readmission agreement with Nigeria – making it only the second country in West Africa with which the EU was negotiating such a formal agreement.

“It is in our common interest to work on dissuading migrants to take dangerous irregular routes to Europe and risk exploitation. Returns and readmission are part of working on this common endeavour,” she said.

Less than a month ago, the United States of America placed a travel ban on Nigeria due to its failure to comply with security and information sharing requirements, and also the “terror” risk to the US.

With this current threat, it has become even more glaring that the country needs to ensure that its citizens adhere to visa terms and legal migration.

Additionally, the correlation between the underdevelopment of a country and its citizens migrating by any means comes to play. This is why the government needs to be proactive in addressing issues like unemployment, violation of human rights, and insecurity.

The ripple effect of the proposed visa restriction is that befitting Nigerians with genuine travel intentions stand a chance of being denied visas.

As the giant of Africa, it is expected that the country has convenient access to other parts of the world but the reality is quite different as the Nigerian passport is ranked 95th globally by the Henley Passport Index.