The Federal Government has ordered the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to fulfill its primary mandate of surveillance and border control ahead of the general election.
Home Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said this in Katsina on Tuesday, during the commissioning of the Katsina State Command Office of the Nigerian Immigration Service and the launch of the enhanced ePassport in the state.
The Minister reiterated that the main task of the Nigerian Immigration Service is border control and not the issuance of passports.
Aregbesola revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered Nigeria’s borders to be impenetrable to foreign bodies who want to enter and tamper with the electoral process or engage in other nefarious activities.
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s order is that from now until we conclude all elections, make our borders impregnable. They must remain impregnable, even after the elections.
“We do not want a situation where those who are not qualified to vote in Nigeria come to our nation to illegally participate in the process.”
Highlighting ‘migration management’ as another primary responsibility of the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Home Secretary said that “the Nigerian Immigration Service must ensure that migrants are effectively regulated and documented, as the issuance of passports is free.
Aregbesola also revealed that the nation’s borders will soon be covered with the latest surveillance technology as electronic digital technology will be deployed to ensure constant and effective border coverage.
“We are deploying electronic digital technology to ensure 24/7 surveillance, inch by inch, of the 4,500 km of border from the east to the west, including the coasts.
“This is one of the many achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari,” the media adviser to the Interior Minister, Sola Fasure, said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added that “Katsina has 14 border posts manned by immigration personnel on the border of some 400 km, and the people of Katsina must trust in our readiness to protect these border posts.
For his part, the Governor of the State of Katsina, Alh. Aminu Bello Masari, who was represented by Katsina State Government Secretary Alhaji Muntari Lawal, praised the Nigerian Immigration Service’s effort to curb the threat of insecurity and play an important role in the fight against banditry.
The SSG commended the Ministry of Home Affairs for the feat achieved in successfully establishing a State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Katsina.
the Minister of the Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Isah Jere Idris; and other senior officials of the service management and other agencies dependent on the Ministry of the Interior, paid a courtesy visit to the governor in his office where other issues of critical national importance were discussed.
