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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Immigration moves to digitise border management, boost security

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is accelerating the use of digital identity systems and automated border controls to enhance security.
  • The NIS aims to tighten borders without hindering legitimate cross-border trade and movement.
  • Threats like human trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime exploit cross-border networks, necessitating enhanced cooperation and technology.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is intensifying its adoption of digital identity systems, automated border controls, and intelligence-led surveillance to strengthen Nigeria's borders. This initiative seeks to enhance security without impeding legitimate travel and cross-border commerce.

Comptroller-General of the NIS, Kemi Nandap, explained that Nigeria's border management strategy is adapting to evolving migration patterns, regional integration, expanding cross-border trade, and sophisticated security threats. She emphasized that borders should be viewed as dynamic spaces for interaction among families, communities, and cultures, facilitating legitimate trade and movement, rather than just lines separating sovereign states.

Borders should no longer be viewed merely as geographical lines separating sovereign states, but as dynamic spaces where families, communities and cultures interact and where legitimate trade and movement take place.

— Kemi NandapRedefining the concept of borders in modern security and socio-economic contexts.

Nandap identified human trafficking, migrant smuggling, identity fraud, organized crime, terrorism, and cyber-enabled offenses as significant threats exploiting cross-border networks. Addressing these challenges requires innovative approaches and inter-agency collaboration. The NIS is combining its personnel's expertise with digital technology, intelligence gathering, and cooperation with other agencies to improve threat detection and response.

Nigeria has been a pioneer in technology-driven border administration, introducing the electronic passport in 2007. The country has since upgraded its e-Passport system with advanced biometric and security features, digitizing various processing stages. Centralizing passport personalization has bolstered production integrity, and participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization's Public Key Directory enhances international verification of Nigerian electronic passports. Contactless biometric passport services are also being deployed to improve accessibility for Nigerians abroad.

Addressing them requires us to work differently and, importantly, to work together.

— Kemi NandapHighlighting the need for collaboration and new strategies to combat cross-border threats.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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