64 irregular immigrants were deported and 1,132 others repatriated by the Nigeria Immigration Service in 2020.
The report was provided in the 2020 Annual Report of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) released on Tuesday.
Bimbola Ojo, Assistant Comptroller-General, Planning, Research and Statistics, said 3,112 Nigerians were refused departure, while 3,563 foreigners were denied entry due to COVID-19.
The official said the pandemic resulted in a sharp reduction in the movement of people into the country by land and air.
Nonetheless, there was a considerable rise in the number of immigrants through sea borders.
The agency reported a 68.7 per cent decline in the total number of immigrants last year.
ACJ Ojo added that the agency recorded a reduction in the number of asylum seekers in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Also, the total number of passports issued in 2020 for Standard, Official and Diplomatic was 764,294 compared to 1,198,275 in 2019.
