Border surveillance: Nigeria Immigration to acquire aircraft, drones

As part of its plans to strengthen border security and management, the acting Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Services, Mrs Caroline Adepoju, has stated that the service will procure aircraft, helicopters, and drones.

The NIS boss stated that the acquisition of surveillance equipment like drones and helicopters is significant for monitoring the movement of people and items through the nation’s borders.

Adepoju made this known on Wednesday at a retreat organised by the NIS, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, Lagos State, tagged, ‘One Impression: Inter-agency collaboration.’

She recalled that the NIS had, at some point, had its own aircraft, adding that the service is working to “ensure that NIS gets its aircraft back. We used to have aircraft for border surveillance. We are now putting this into our budget.

“We are going to buy aircraft, we will buy drones. We are going to buy helicopters to ensure that we effectively do aerial border management.”

Adepoju further said that, by 2024, the NIS will deploy the use of the electronic gate to ease the passage of nationals through the air, land, and sea borders.

According to her, the e-gate, through biometric identity verification, will provide a seamless experience for travellers across all national borders, thereby minimising the need for direct interaction with immigration officers.