Two Nigerian student who are being deported for misusing their student visas in Malaysia escaped on Thursday morning after one of two Immigration officers who were escorting the Nigerians for deportation claimed seven unknown men had used forced to free the two when he had stopped the van carrying the men at a petrol station near the airport.
The two Immigration officers had been placed under immediate suspension pending investigations.
KLIA Immigration Depot director Datuk Mohmed Asri Yusof said the two Immigraiont officers had taken the Nigerians to the airport together with a Palestinian, who was also to be deported.
He said one of the officers then escorted the Palestinian into the airport at 12.15am to check his flight home while the Nigerians remained in the van with the other officer as their flights was only scheduled for 2.55am.
However when the first officer returned after seeing off the Palestinian he found that his colleague had driven the van, with the Nigerians still inside, to a Petronas station nearby, supposedly to purchase some drinks.
"Fifteen minutes later the second officer contacted his colleague, who was still at the airport, to say he had been stopped by seven African men who had used force to free the two Nigerians before handcuffing him to the steering wheel," he told a press conference after attending the National Registration Department Innovation Day launch on Thursday.
The second officer lodged a police report on the incident at 1.30am while the first officer lodged his report at about 3.30am.
The two Nigerians, Solomon Udo Eneh and Osuji Chinedu, were being deported after they were found to have abused their student visas.
Yusof appealed to the public to report anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant to the police.
Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam told the same press conference that the ministry was keen to know how the two Nigerians, who were handcuffed, managed to escape.
The ministry, he said, also wanted to identify any weaknesses in the escorting procedures that might have led to the incident.
He said the ministry was currently also working on tightening the standard operating procedure in escorting, transporting and deporting foreigners.
"The Immigration Department's Flying Squad has launched a manhunt together with the police and I believe we will be able to find them," he said.
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