The federal government has again promised to tackle insecurity occasioned by irregular migration and increasing transnational activities across the international borders of Nigeria.
This is even as it renewed its commitment to degrade bandits, insurgents and other criminal elements operating along the nation’s borders.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubumi Tunji- Ojo, made the disclosure while commissioning 30 operational vehicles to boost border surveillance and control yesterday at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja.
Tunji- Ojo, who said effective patrol and increasing number of security personnel at the nation’s borders would not only check the proliferation of light weapons and contrabands, added that it their presence would also cripple the activities of bandits, insurgents and kidnappers.
The minister said President Bola Tinubu believes that a porous border would be detrimental to the peace and security of the country, hence, his commitment to providing the right leadership, equipment, welfare and all that is needed to aid the Nigeria Immigration Service carry out their mandate diligently and effectively.
While observing that much has been committed to training Immigration officers, the Minister asked them to justify the same by being professional in all their doing to protect the country from influx and infiltration by irregular migrants, calling for support for the Military in the region.
“The president is happy about your proposal on surveillance and security of our borders. I am also happy because protecting borders and making sure Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed is a priority of the present administration.
“Once our borders are protected, internal threats can easily be dealt with, so the time for rhetoric is over. It is time for action. The security and protection of our borders is now. The current insurgency and other security challenges are a wake-up call, and it will soon be over,” he said.
In her remarks, the Comptroller-general of NIS, Mrs Kemi Nanna Nandap, described the inauguration of the operational vehicles as “a tangible move to enhance the security and integrity of the nation’s borders in line with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
She said she was acutely aware of the imperative role that effective border surveillance and patrol play in safeguarding Nigeria’s sovereignty, protecting its citizens, preserving its economic prosperity as well as facilitating regular, safe, and in orderly migration
According to her, the 30 new vehicles represented a concrete investment in the capacity of the Service as it would provide officers with the tools needed to carry out their duties.
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