The Canadian government is yet again aggressively trying to limit the number of asylum seekers from Nigeria who are flooding into Canada via the United States, officials said on Monday.

A recent investigation has revealed that over 9,000 Nigerian nationals have trekked through the notorious Roxham Road border into Canada illegally till date. They crossed on foot along a forest trail from New York state to Quebec.

The Canadian government had previously requested that the US authorities tighten their visa rules for Nigerians to try to prevent tourists from flying to the US and then hopping across the border to file Canadian refugee claims. Yet, the number of asylum-seekers entering Canada outside formal land border crossings has now reached its highest point since August 2017.

The increase follows the lifting of a pandemic-era order last December. Recall that since March 2020, border police had refused entry to all asylum-seekers in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Between January and February 2022 alone, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intercepted over 2,500 asylum-seekers crossing the border outside formal land ports of entry, the vast majority crossing into Quebec.

These asylum-seekers often enter Canada because they do not enter at formal border crossings. Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, set to be contested at Canada's Supreme Court, Canada and the United States can turn back asylum-seekers in either direction at formal land border crossings.