The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has strengthened its border security through advanced technology deployment and enhanced surveillance to curb irregular migration and migrant smuggling across the country’s borders.
The Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Akinsola Akinlabi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja. Akinlabi said the NIS had recorded significant successes in detecting and preventing illegal movement of persons through the nation’s land borders.
He attributed the achievements to sustained border patrol operations and surveillance mechanisms. According to him, border officers have consistently intercepted irregular migrants attempting to leave or enter the country through unauthorised routes.
”Most of the time, when people embark on irregular migration journeys, our officers stationed along the borders can intercept them and, in many cases, reunite them with their families. ”A lot has been recorded in this area, and these efforts have significantly reduced the number of people using land routes to leave the country irregularly.”
The NIS spokesman also explained that the service’s border surveillance architecture was designed to monitor difficult and remote terrains that may be inaccessible to personnel. He said the surveillance infrastructure had enabled the service to identify routes frequently used for irregular migration and strategically deploy assets to such locations.
He noted that the service’s mandate in the area focused on border security and the prevention of migrant smuggling, adding that surveillance activities covered both inbound and outbound movements.
He added that irregular migrants attempting to enter Nigeria through illegal routes were often intercepted by border officers and returned to their countries of origin or the locations from which they originated.
Speaking on challenges confronting border management efforts, Akinlabi said irregular migration remained a complex societal issue that required collective action beyond enforcement measures.
According to him, while no border management agency in the world operates without challenges, the federal government has continued to support the NIS through the provision of critical operational tools and resources. He, however, said one of the major obstacles was the failure of many people to fully appreciate the risks and consequences associated with irregular migration.