With 1,490 illegal entry routes into Nigeria, more still opening up, NIS boss laments

Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Isa Jere Idris, has lamented the high number of entry points into the country.

He stated that there were no less than 1,490 illegal entry points into the country due to the porous nature of the country’s borders, coupled with corrupt officers mounting these borders which makes it easy for criminal elements to come in at will.

Idris disclosed this on Friday while delivering a paper on the opening day of a national conference organised by the Nigerian Immigration Lawyers Association (NILA) in conjunction with the NIS held in Abuja.

He said the situation was worrisome as new routes were being opened even as efforts were being made to close existing ones.

The NIS boss urged the Nigeuan government to take proactive steps to address the challenge as part of ways to address influx of movements into the country and checkmate the attendant security problems.

He added that to arrest the ugly situation, there was an “urgent need to upscale the budget of the NIS to enable it carry out surveillance, intelligence and monitoring activities using the latest technology and manpower.”

Read also: Nigeria Immigration Service kicks off implementation of new visa fee, policy

Idris said all over the world, governments commit substantial resources and huge amounts of money to protect their borders in order to ensure the security and well-being of citizens, and urged the country to emulate such in national interests.

He also said there were only 25,000 immigration officers to man Nigerian borders of over 5,000 kilometres and a population of over 200 million citizen.

“The Service is doing a lot to curtail the influx of migrants into the country but their efforts are not seen nor appreciated enough by the public,” the NIS boss lamented.

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