FG inaugurates immigration border patrol base

The Minister of Interior, retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, on Thursday in Katsina inaugurated the country’s first operational border patrol base established by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

Represented by Mr Mohammed Umar, the Permanent Secretary in his ministry, Dambazau said the facility would add impetus to the nation’s fight against irregular migration and cross-border criminality.

“The responsibility of securing the territorial borders of a vast country like Nigeria is quite enormous and overwhelming.

“This is why establishing border patrol bases is timely as a means of supporting existing border patrol structures by intensifying surveillance along notorious routes and enforcing our immigration laws.

“It is our belief that the operation of this patrol base and others that will come on stream will add impetus to the fight against trafficking in persons, smuggling, proliferation of small arms and light weapons and other forms of cross-border crimes across our borders.”

The minister stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration was working on all fronts to ensure internal security, with effective border policing as one of the priority areas.

While lauding the NIS for the initiative, Dambazau urged officers who would man the bases and other border patrol units to continuously show awareness of their role.

He stressed the need for them to work closely with other security agencies especially in the area of information sharing and joint operations along the border where necessary.

The Comptroller General of Immigration, Mr Muhammad Babandede, said the project was a demonstration of the agencys commitment to effective patrol and monitoring of the nations lengthy borders to control irregular migration.

“In addition to the Mazanya Border Patrol Base, the NIS has also established three others, we are running a pilot project: one in Ogun (Oja Odan), one in Jigawa at Maigatari, another one in Oyo at Shaki.

“What we are saying is that it will no longer be possible for immigration officers to stay at the border waiting for migrants to come.

“We have to patrol the borders, not where human beings are but the bushes because we are bush officers.

“We are paid to be border officers; patrol the flank of the borders, not to disturb people in the cities.”

Babandede said the Jibiya axis was one of the major routes of trans-Sahara migration in the country.

He stated that the siting of the base there was strategic, and designed to increase the capacity of the NIS to effectively check deter such movements, and curtail terrorism, smuggling of goods, among others.

The comptroller general explained that the base was designed to extend command and control of border patrol units and to provide support for immigration operations.

He said the base had provision for office and residential accommodation in addition to being a holding facility for the detention of irregular migrants.

He further said the base was equipped with modern communication facilities for easy and secure sharing of information.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Katsina is hosts an approximately 203.5km borderline with Niger Republic, making it a major transit route for migrants.