The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has expressed concerns that the service is understaffed to deal with the pressing issue of illegal immigration into Nigeria through some 1,490 entry points.
The Acting Comptroller General of the Service, Idris Jere, thus pleaded to the Federal Government again to further empower the Service to recruit more men to efficiently do the job.
He said this on Saturday during a virtual engagement with Nigerian journalists, stressing that the Nigerian border lines which stretches more than 5,330 kilometers has limited men to on duty as the entire workforce of the NIS is still dangling at 25,000.
He said, “The major responsibility of NIS is border security without overlooking the importance of passport issuance as another mandate of the agency. Nigeria’s borders are very massive covering 5,330 kilometres and with a total of an estimated 1,490 illegal entry points into the country. Yet, the entire workforce of NIS is not more than 25,000.
“So, it is increasingly difficult for us to adequately man the border lines. That is why we have continued to appeal to the government to increase our budgetary allocations and also grant us approval for recruitments to reinforce the workforce.
“We thank the President and the team for the approval and the recruitment we carried out in 2021, but the reality is that we need more personnel to achieve effective border management and control.”
Measures in Place
The acting CGI listed measures by the NIS to improve the border security in Nigeria and arrest the influx of illegal migrants in the country. These measures, according to him, include improved technology, increased border patrol and raids of illegal migrants.
Improved technology: The acting CGI said the best way to man the vast border points in Nigeria is the deployment of technology and that with NIS technology building already in place, efforts have reached an advanced stage to launch electronic border management systems across 84 border locations. “It is through this technology that we can monitor our borders real time,” he said.
Increased border patrol: The acting CGI said the border patrol system is also being enhanced to ensure close and improved monitoring with the available personnel.
Raids: Meanwhile, Mr Idris said the NIS carries out raids regularly and that many irregular residents in Nigeria are regularly picked up and eased out.
He, however, cautioned Nigerians that not every non-Nigerian seen in Nigeria is illegal migrants, adding that ECOWAS protocol which Nigeria is a signatory to also grants citizens of member-states freedom but that the freedom also comes with conditions.
“So, it takes experts like our men to determine if a non-Nigerian is an illegal resident or not. Some of them have their papers that permit them to stay for a certain period based on the protocols we are committed to as a nation.
“We carry out raids and most times we don’t announce this for some diplomatic reasons. But I can assure Nigerians that we are doing our best to ensure that only legal migrants live and work in Nigeria. Just two days ago, three illegal Sudanese residents in Nigeria were picked up. So, we are not resting,” he said.
