The Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has arrested more than 231 illegal immigrants, including 62 Nigerian nationals, in two separate intelligence-led crackdowns targeting irregular migration.
The suspects were rounded up during two major coordinated operations conducted on April 27, 2026 in Adjumani and the Bukoto–Ntinda areas of Kampala.
The arrests were carried out by the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control following a tip-off from the public.
According to the ministry’s spokesperson, Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Nigerian nationals were running a church and other activities without valid work permits.
The Nigerians are currently being processed for prosecution under Uganda’s immigration laws, with possible penalties including fines, deportation, and blacklisting.
Mundeyi revealed that the Nigerians are currently held at the Ministry’s facility in Namanve.
“These people come under the guise of preaching the gospel and hide behind other irregular activities. So acting on that intelligence, we swung into action and were able to apprehend them,” he said.
He explained that upon interrogation, some of the Nigerians claimed they were trafficked into Uganda under false promises of employment while others were directly involved in cyber scamming and related offences
According to the spokesman, 169 other foreign nationals were arrested in an apartment in Bukoto, a Kampala suburb, without valid immigration status. Of these, 36 are women.
He explained that the majority are from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Malaysia.
The Ministry reaffirmed it’s commitment to ensuring that all foreign nationals living and working in Uganda are properly documented and comply with national regulations.
“We also ask them landlords who offer accommodation facilities to these people who are clearly not Ugandans to endeavour to ask for at least the immigration status of foreign tenants before allowing them to settle in their premises,” he added.
