With Porous Borders, Nigeria Remains Vulnerable. The different state commands of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have been crowing about the number of illegal immigrants they have deported to their countries. The action, they said, was informed by the current security challenges in the nation. However, virtually all the commands complained that the nation’s borders were still very porous. In particular, the Kaduna State comptroller of the NIS, Hamman Abdullahi Yerima, while deporting 49 illegal immigrants from Kaduna State to Niger Republic, said that Nigeria’s borders were still a haven for more illegal migrants. In the same vein, the former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Alhaji Aminu Dabo, recently advised President Goodluck Jonathan to pay more attention to the nation’s borders if security challenges must be tackled squarely. Even though these people with security backgrounds have not said anything new, their concern reflects the general feeling of many Nigerians and even foreigners today: our borders are still very porous. Customs officials have estimated that there are no fewer than 1, 300 points of entry into Nigeria. Therefore, in view of the nation’s huge landscape, the immigration posts across the nation are not enough. In some states where there are enough posts, they are not manned by security agents. Logs of wood and old tyres do the work in many places! Security officials, especially those of the NIS, do not have vehicles for regular patrols. The implication of such lapses is huge. For example, many security men have indicated that the gunmen that massacred innocent people at a village in Zamfara State recently came from the porous border in the northern part of the country; the borders were feebly manned. Indeed, many crimes -- armed robbery, human trafficking, smuggling and terrorism – besetting the nation today are easily linked to our porous borders. This security threat should worry all relevant security agencies and particularly the federal government that has constitutional responsibility to secure our borders from external aggression and protect its citizens from criminals. We cannot continue to lament over the porous borders without anybody taking the necessary urgent steps to fix the problem. Deporting illegal immigrants will not solve the problem, for those being deported will still find their way back into the country if the borders are not well secured. The first right step to take is provision of security facilities. There must be enough vehicles for regular border patrol. The patrol should be a joint effort by all security agencies in the country. As recently suggested by the former boss of the NPA, the federal government should also take the battle to the neighbouring countries that allow criminals to build camps on their soil and, from there, launch attacks on Nigeria. These measures should be taken urgently; otherwise, the government would be wasting its time and resources in attempts to tackle the country’s security challenges. - See more at: leadership.ng/news/270613/porous-borders-nigeria-remains-vulnerable#sthash.MsMjoZsF.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 05:12:53 +0000
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