The Government of India deported at least 1,470 Nigerians from its soil between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, according data obtained by Sunday PUNCH from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
The data show that Nigerians emerged as the most deported nationality from India, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all foreign nationals removed from the South Asian country in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
For the period under review, Indian authorities deported over 2,331 persons, with Nigerians representing 63 per cent of all removals carried out by the Foreigners Regional Registration Offices across seven major Indian cities: Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Amritsar, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.
The figure places Nigeria ahead of Bangladesh, which recorded 411 deportations (17.6 per cent), and Uganda, with 78 deportations (3.3 per cent).
On average, 122.5 Nigerians were deported monthly from India during the period, translating to approximately four deportations per day.
The data shows Uganda as the only other sub-Saharan African country among the top three deported nationalities.
However, the high deportation numbers have emerged against the backdrop of strengthening diplomatic ties between both countries.
President Bola Tinubu visited India in September 2023 to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi as a guest nation, where he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss bilateral cooperation in defence, agriculture, trade, and investment.
Just over a year later, in November 2024, Prime Minister Modi made his first visit to Nigeria in 17 years, the first by an Indian prime minister since 2007.
During the two-day visit, Modi was conferred with Nigeria’s second-highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger, making him only the second foreign dignitary after Queen Elizabeth II to receive the award.
The leaders signed three Memoranda of Understanding on cultural exchange, customs cooperation, and survey cooperation, and discussed expanding the India-Nigeria Strategic Partnership established in 2007.
Indian companies have invested $27bn cumulatively in Nigeria, with 200 companies operating in the country.
Bilateral trade between India and Nigeria stood at $7.89bn in 2023-24, down from $11.8bn in 2022-23, primarily due to reduced crude oil imports from Nigeria.
The GOI says most of the deportations were tied to expired visas and drug trafficking cases.
The Ministry of Home Affairs report indicates that deportation typically results from entering the country without valid documentation or remaining in the country after visa expiration, with many Nigerian deportees having originally entered India on student visas that subsequently expired.
In December 2025, Indian authorities deported 32 Nigerians following a multi-state narcotics raid in Delhi by the EAGLE anti-narcotics unit.
The operation targeted what authorities described as a transnational drug trafficking syndicate.
Weeks earlier, in November 2025, Hyderabad police deported Onyeukwu Victor, who had entered India on a student visa in 2021 but remained after it expired in 2024.
The Hyderabad Narcotics Enforcement Wing alleged he coordinated drug supplies to customers in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, though no drugs were found on him at arrest.
Another Nigerian, Victor Obasi, was deported from Hyderabad in January 2026 for illegal stay and alleged drug trafficking links.
Indian uthorities described his continued presence as “a potential threat to public safety and national security.”
The western coastal state of Goa, a popular tourist destination, has been particularly aggressive in such deportations.
In October 2022, Goa Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, disclosed that approximately 650 Nigerians were deported from the state between 2019 and 2022 as part of efforts to curb drug trafficking and visa overstays.
“Earlier 700 Nigerians were staying illegally, now only 50 are remaining. We could deport them,” Sawant said, adding that the Federal Home Ministry had instructed other states to create similar detention facilities for foreigners.
India received 9.84 million foreign visitors between April 2023 and March 2024, with Bangladesh accounting for the highest number at 2.1 million arrivals, followed by the United States (1.7 million) and the United Kingdom (900,000).
The top 10 visiting countries accounted for 70.27 per cent of total foreign arrivals.
Nigerians maintain a significant presence in India, with approximately 60,000 living and working there as of 2025. It is also the largest West African community in the country.
During the same 2023-2024 period, India granted 1,112 Long-Term Visas to minority communities from Pakistan and issued 1,699 citizenship certificates through federal and state governments.
Speaking with our correspondent, Research Director, Centre for China Studies, Abuja, Charles Onunaiju, argued that a lack of local opportunities is driving Nigerians abroad.
He said, “We have a challenge. Since Nigeria is becoming inhospitable, especially for young people with no opportunities, there is desperation to go abroad.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission said it is ready to welcome Nigerians deported from anywhere in the world.
“The Federal Government has set up an inter-agency committee, comprising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NiDCOM, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Office of the National Security Adviser, for mass deportations of Nigerians from anywhere,” NiDCOM’s Director of Media and Corporate Affairs, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said in an interview.
