The acting Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Services, Mrs Caroline Adepoju, has stated that the service will procure aircraft, helicopters, and drones, to strengthen the country’s border security and management.
The NIS boss stated that the acquisition of surveillance equipment like drones and helicopters is significant for monitoring the movement of people and items through the nation’s borders.
Adepoju made this known on Wednesday at a retreat organised by the NIS, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Lagos State, tagged, ‘One Impression: Inter-agency collaboration.’
She recalled that the NIS had, at some point, had its own aircraft, adding that the service is working to “ensure that NIS gets its aircraft back. We used to have aircraft for border surveillance. We are now putting this into our budget.
“We are going to buy aircraft, we will buy drones. We are going to buy helicopters to ensure that we effectively do aerial border management.”
Adepoju further said that, by 2024, the NIS will deploy the use of the electronic gate to ease the passage of nationals through the air, land, and sea borders.
According to her, the e-gate, through biometric identity verification, will provide a seamless experience for travellers across all national borders, thereby minimising the need for direct interaction with immigration officers.
“Very soon, NIS will be deploying the e-gate to make it seamless for our nationals to come in, make it less stressful.
“In the early part of 2024, we will deploy the e-gate, ensuring that our MIDAS will improve on them, ensuring our borders, air, land and sea are fortified.
“The electronic gate, for example, our nationals may not need, except they are persons of interest, to be attended to by immigration officers. “
The new Senior Special Assistant to the President, National Values and Social Justice, Mr. Fela Durotoye, urged agencies working at the airport to work together and disseminate relevant intelligence.
Comptroller of NIS, MMIA Command, Mrs Adeola Adesokan, praised the collaborative efforts among security operatives and border management officials at the airport, which had facilitated the influx of investors into the country.
Speaking, the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Kabir Yusuf, who was represented by the Regional Manager, Southwest/Airport manager, Mr. Sunday Ayodele, craved support in infrastructure to change the face of facilitation at the airport
He said the air travel value chain continues to harvest the benefits of collaboration among agencies at the Lagos Airport.