NONG KHAI, Thailand – Immigration police in Nong Khai have arrested a 29-year-old Nigerian man accused of entering and remaining in Thailand without permission, after he was reportedly found waiting for transport near the Lao border. Mr Chidera Anthony Ejiogu was detained on August 27 after residents reported seeing a foreign man walking in Soi Ruenrom 3, Pho Chai subdistrict, in Nong Khai’s Muang district, with police checks finding no record of his entry into Thailand, and he was taken to Nong Khai Immigration for questioning before being handed to investigators at Muang Nong Khai Police Station for legal proceedings.

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According to immigration police, Mr Ejiogu said he had entered Thailand illegally around two months earlier and had then stayed with his Thai girlfriend, identified as Yuwadee, in Bangkok. He told officers that he later contacted a male friend in Laos, identified as Akezey N., through WhatsApp, and allegedly paid 30,000 baht by transfer to a Siam Commercial Bank account for help arranging an illegal crossing into Laos.

His Lao contact allegedly arranged for a Thai man to collect him outside his accommodation in Soi Nawamin 36, and the man drove him to a hotel in Nong Khai, where he was told to wait for someone to take him across the border, police said. However, officers located and detained him before the alleged onward journey could take place, with the operation led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Theeyaphat Rangsiphramanakul, deputy superintendent of Nong Khai Immigration, and Police Lieutenant Colonel Apichat Koltha, an inspector with the unit, along with other officials.

Mr Ejiogu has been charged with being a foreign national who entered and stayed in the Kingdom without permission, and he has been sent to investigators at Muang Nong Khai Police Station for further action under the law.

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The arrest underscores ongoing efforts by immigration authorities to monitor and apprehend foreign nationals who enter Thailand without proper documentation, particularly in border areas where illegal crossings are common. Police have not indicated whether further charges will be filed against the suspect or against those who allegedly facilitated his attempted illegal departure from the country.

-Thailand News (TN)