To win the war against terrorism, insurgency and other organized crimes it has become imperative for the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, to be granted access to the INTERPOL I-24/7 portal.
This was the assertion of the Comptroller-General of Immigration, CGI, Muhammad Babandede when the Ag. Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris paid him a courtesy visit at the weekend at the Immigration Headquarters in Abuja.
Babandede noted that NIS provides frontline officers at land, sea and air borders in the security architecture of Nigeria and therefore needs details of persons moving in and out.
The INTERPOL I-24/7 network enables the 190 member countries to search and cross-check data of suspected criminals, wanted persons, stolen or lost travel documents within seconds. It is installed at the countries’ National Central Bureau which are usually under Police supervision.
However, in realization that in some countries, Immigration and Customs are not under the Police, INTERPOL is now focusing on extending access to these other agencies.
According to the CGI, “NIS has achieved tremendous success in border control at our Airports through the Electronic Passenger Registration System (e-pars)”.
The e-pars has integrated components that simultaneously cross-checks the data of a passenger against NIS watch list as well as registers his arrival or departure real time when the passenger’s passport is placed on the Document Reader at the immigration control point.
Earlier, the IGP told his host that his visit was to seek collaboration in the area of Internal Security.
Idris said “if criminals can work together to inflict pain on the society, there is no reason security agencies should not come together to present a stronger front”.
While acknowledging the cordial relationship that exists between officers of the Nigerian Police and Immigration, he proposed “the establishment of a center where officers representing the various security agencies can jointly co-ordinate activities in providing internal security”.
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