Five hundred border patrol immigration officers are undergoing training on boarder management in an effort to reduce the increasing number of illegal immigrants trooping into Nigeria and the influx of insurgents from the north east.
At the flag-off ceremony at the immigration training school in Kano State, north west Nigeria, on Monday, the Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr David Paradang, said the border patrol unit would work with other agencies to ensure better border security management.
The officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service, drown from various immigration commands and formation across Nigeria, were specially selected to fully provide adequate security to Nigerian borders said to be highly porous over the years.
The officials are expected to be trained on techniques of apprehending illegal immigrants and checking documents, importation of illegal arms, self-defence and liaising with the Nigerian customs services and other security agencies in identifying people with questionable characters and goods not approved by the Nigerian government.
Before now, the Nigeria Immigration Service had no powerful border patrol unit, which has now been established to complement the effort of other security institutions in the fight against crime and insurgency. Insurgents are said to have free access into Nigeria and out of the country through the border that has had poor control and checks mechanisms.
Additional 500 officials of the Border Patrol Unit will be trained at the second phase later in the year, but the number may not be enough to secure all Nigerian boarder posts.
Nigeria’s border needs to be well monitored by security agencies at this time that Boko Haram members are infiltrating the north east. The terrorist group has carried out series of attacks on villages, churches and schools in the north east in the last 5 years.
Members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, in a joint effort, are carrying out counter terrorism attacks in the area in an attempt to contain the insurgency.
At the ongoing National Conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, a delegate had called for the closure of the border with Cameroon but it is not yet clear if the motion will be part of the recommendation that the conference will submit to the president at the end of it in June.
