Federal Gov’t Deports 828 Illegal Immigrants, Revamps Border Security

The federal government has deported 828 illegal immigrants in 2024 as part of its intensified efforts to combat irregular migration and enhance national security.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this at a media parley in Abuja.

Highlighting the government’s achievements, the minister stated, “In the last year, 137 victims of trafficking were intercepted, and in 2024 alone, 828 foreigners were repatriated by the Nigerian Immigration Service.”

As part of broader reforms, the government implemented measures to modernise border operations and immigration systems.

These include integrating Nigerian passports into the International Civil Aviation Organisation Public Key Directory, allowing seamless verification worldwide, and establishing a centralised Visa Approval Centre in Abuja to streamline visa processing.

To support these initiatives, an 8.3-petabyte data centre—the largest in Nigeria—has been constructed, and solar-powered infrastructure has been introduced to ensure uninterrupted operations.

A command and control centre monitors all land and air entry points, boosting surveillance capabilities.

According to the minister, at least 97 cases of persons of international security interest have been recorded through the API/PNR as of Sunday, 26th January 2025. These persons would have entered the country under the manual passenger processing and profiling system.

The minister noted that the NIS cleared a backlog of „ Over 200,000 passport applications within three weeks in 2023 and issued 1,836,533 passports in 2024.”

He also said the centralised passport personalisation process will begin with 21 African Countries on February 3, 2025.