NIS border system enhances passenger profiling, national security– CG

NIS border system enhances passenger profiling, national security– CG

The Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nandap, says the newly deployed border management system is enhancing target-based profiling of travellers, using the interactive Advanced Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) technologies.

Nandap said this at the two-day interactive session on government-citizen engagement, themed: “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government–Citizen Engagement for National Unity,” in Kaduna.

In a statement by the Service Public Relations Officer, (SPRO), Akinsola Akinlabi, the NIS CG emphasised that the border management system enabled the Service to know and properly profile individuals travelling to Nigeria.

This, she said, was before they departed their countries of origin, in the interest of national security.

“The border management system that we have deployed in this administration has a lot of target-based profiling. We have the interactive Advanced Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR).

“What that does in terms of national security is that airlines send the data of their passengers coming to Nigeria and it gives us the opportunity to profile every one of them before they come in, for the purpose of national security,” she said.

The NIS boss also said that the interest of communities at Nigeria’s borders would be prioritised in the ongoing recruitment exercise by the Service.

This, she said, would help strengthen the relationship between the NIS and border communities, thereby enhancing collaboration, intelligence gathering and national security.

“Most importantly, we do a lot of border community engagement and outreach. I think the President Bola Tinubu has been very magnanimous.

“This is because he has graciously approved that we start the ongoing process of recruitment.

“The recruitment we are doing now is going to be target-based, where we liaise with community leaders and ask them to give us credible sons and daughters of their community.

“Because we have realised that we stand a chance of losing out on information and collaboration with the border communities, who are very crucial to the success of our jobs as immigration officers, if we don’t engage them,” she said.

The NIS CG also explained that migrants entering Nigeria through land borders from ECOWAS neighbouring countries were duly registered at control posts with over 30 of which were located in the northern region.

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She added that the data collected from the border registration points were linked directly to the NIS Command and Control Centre at the Service’s headquarters in Abuja.

According to her, the border surveillance facilities of the Service are active 24/7 and provide real-time updates on movements across the borders.

She disclosed that the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) of the NIS in Sokoto, Borno, Zamfara, Kebbi, Yobe, Taraba, Adamawa, and other northern corridors have been refurbished to boost their efficiency in combating cross-border crimes and irregular migration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the high-level forum was attended by governors, ministers, service chiefs, and other top government functionaries.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation led the presidential delegation, with President Bola Tinubu represented by the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.