The Nigeria Immigration Service on Tuesday disclosed that 1,579,773 persons passed through the country’s various borders in 2020.
This report was confirmed in a statement by the NIS Comptroller-General, Muhammad Babandede.
Babandede further broke down the statistics when he disclosed that passengers’ movement across the air borders was 1,256,652, while the land borders recorded 109,854, and the seaport, 213,161.
He also stated that about 106 stowaways were intercepted during the period under review.
His statement was further corroborated by the NIS spokesman, Sunday James who stated that the service has put in place strategies to effectively strike a balance between trade, people facilitation, human rights and right of countries to protect its sovereignty and security.
“The CG promised that the Nigeria Immigration Service will continue to play the lead role in border management, migration management and control of human mobility through the deployment of human capital and technology, collaborations for safer migration through bilateral, multilateral cooperation, inter-agency collaborations and partnerships, training and retraining of its workforce to ensure safe border and safe nation,” he said.
According to the PUNCH, the NIS operatives were active in the 72 border patrol bases, six international airports, 11 sea/marine borders patrolling the nation’s 415 nautical miles (853 km), coastal areas and the Gulf of Guinea in the south.
