By Atoyebi Nike
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has announced the reinforcement of border security strategies, with a special focus on maritime frontiers, to address growing threats of terrorism, piracy, and other transnational crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.
Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, disclosed this during the opening of a Regional Workshop on Maritime Border Security held Tuesday in Abuja. The event, themed “Maritime Security in the Context of Counter-Terrorism in the Gulf of Guinea,” brought together stakeholders from West and Central African nations to enhance joint responses to maritime threats.
Nandap highlighted that regional collaboration is essential in combating challenges such as piracy, human trafficking, illicit arms flow, migrant smuggling, and foreign terrorist infiltration.
“Mitigating maritime threats in this vital region requires a broad spectrum of initiatives, not limited to international collaboration, but fortifying defense capabilities in the marine domain,” Nandap said.
She stressed the pivotal role of the NIS in passport control, travel document verification, and surveillance, adding that advanced technologies such as the Advanced Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) systems would be expanded to cover marine frontiers for improved intelligence sharing.
“Our threats are transnational, and so must be our response,” she noted. “No agency or government involved in border security can operate in isolation.”
Nandap reiterated NIS’s commitment to regional frameworks, including the African Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050 and ECOWAS’s Gulf of Guinea Strategy, to create secure maritime conditions for economic development and safeguard the blue economy.
The Gulf of Guinea, she added, is vital not only for its energy reserves but also for broader continental development goals, making its security a regional imperative.
In his opening remarks, Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, applauded the NIS for leading efforts to review and strengthen Nigeria’s border security.
“Border control remains the cornerstone of national security,” the minister said. “The federal government is ready to take decisive actions to protect our territorial integrity.”
Nandap also cited persistent threats such as illegal oil bunkering, armed robbery at sea, and trafficking that continue to destabilise the region and hinder global maritime operations.
She concluded by affirming the NIS’s commitment to capacity building, sound policy formulation, community engagement, and robust regional partnerships to ensure a safe and secure maritime environment.
