The Federal Government of Nigeria has inducted no fewer than 123 officers into the Command and Control Centre facility at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to reinforce the country’s border control, security, and governance capabilities.
Speaking during the induction ceremony on Monday in Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said that the strategic move aimed to enhance national security and streamline operations at the NIS.
Tunji-Ojo said that the infrastructures and facilities inside the centre have been fully integrated with International Police (Interpol) and other security outfits across the world.
This, he said, would be to do pre-profiling of passengers and pick up persons of interests anywhere in the world.
“Persons of interest would be picked up anywhere even before they board their planes to Nigeria because the facilities here have capacity and capability of pre-profiling passengers,”he emphasised.
The minister said that the Command and Control Centre would operate 24/7 to monitor land, maritime and air borders of the country.
He said that Nigeria does not have the luxury that other countries in Africa have, going by its geographical location to 10 countries in the Sahel region and the Gulf of Guinea in the south where about 5 million barrels of crude oil was produced per day.
Tunji-Ojo said that with the commencement of operation of the centre, the NIS had gone beyond procurement of travelling documents for its citizens.
“NIS is now fully integrated into the security architecture of Nigeria to play a dominant role. The service is now a crucial component of the National Security Architecture of Nigeria.
“We have here the NIS that is determined to implement its responsibility. Nigeria Security now depends on you especially with the infrastructures and facilities in place at the Command and Control Centre.
“These facilities provide data on Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS). It means nobody should come to Nigeria without pre-profiling them. So we have this facility for irregular migration and real time analysis on passenger movements.
“I am prepared to give my best to Nigeria to ensure that the system works effectively and efficiently. I urge you as the first set of officers to man these facilities across the country to give your best as well.
“There will be zero tolerance for error. And we have arranged the system in a way that fatigue would not set in on the officers that would be on shifts at every point so that they would do their jobs seamlessly, “he said.
Tunji-Ojo, however, said that President Bola Tinubu would soon inaugurate the newly completed electronic passengers gates (e-gates) at the Airports in Lagos and Abuja respectively.
In her remarks, the NIS Comptroller-General, Kemi Nandap said that about 253 officers were selected for special training regarding the manning of the infrastructures at the Command and Control Centre.
Nandap, however, said that the first set of 123 officers were representatives of various commands across the country.
Nandap, who described the induction as a special day in the history of the NIS, said that the officers who scaled through the first stage of the training would move to the next stage which involved data analysis and travel plans.
“This training was not a regular training, it was done in conjunction with so many critical stakeholders and it will interest you to know that you are the pioneer of the flagship of this project NIS has embarked upon.
“I urge you to be responsible because the success of this unit is paramount to National security of our country.
“So, a large responsibility is on you now. You have to justify the confidence that is being given to you and make sure you don’t compromise on the duty you will be assigned to,”she said.
The NIS CG explained that the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) would revolutionise the agency’s ability to identify potential security threats.
This, she said would be by harnessing data from various sources adding that APIS enabled the NIS to track individuals of interest and preemptively mitigate potential dangers to the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that APIS facilitates the collection and analysis of passenger data, allowing for real-time risk assessment and targeted interventions.
This proactive approach strengthens national security and enhances the NIS’s capacity to safeguard Nigeria’s borders.
