Gauhati HC warns Assam govt over prolonged detention of Nigerian national

Guwahati, May 11: In a strong rebuke to the Assam government, the Gauhati High Court has warned that it may be "compelled to release unconditionally" a Nigerian national detained illegally for over 1,457 days at the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara.

The division bench expressed displeasure over the government's inaction in facilitating his deportation, stressing that continued detention beyond the completed sentence period was unjustified and at the cost of the State.

The Nigerian man, arrested in December 2020 for entering India without valid documents, completed a six-month sentence awarded by a Karimganj court in August 2021. Despite this, he remains in detention. His counsel, DK Agarwala, informed the court that the Nigerian Embassy is open to processing emergency travel documents if approached officially.

The court has directed the Assam government to coordinate with the embassy to expedite the deportation and warned that failure to act will lead to the detainee's release at the government's risk.

This court order comes even as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a significant policy shift regarding illegal infiltrators. Following a state Cabinet meeting, Sarma said that Assam would no longer pursue legal action against infiltrators, calling the process “long-drawn and ineffective.”

Instead, the state will push back any illegal entrants directly at the Indo-Bangladesh border, bypassing legal procedures. He noted that most detainees at transit centres like Matia have already been deported, including Rohingya nationals, with only a few remaining due to pending legal cases. The policy marks Assam’s intensified efforts to secure its borders amidst growing national security concerns.