The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says combating migrant smuggling requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach rooted in partnership, vigilance, and shared responsibility.
The Comptroller General of the NIS, Kemi Nanna Nandap, stated this at a one-day stakeholders’ sensitization seminar on “Involving Partners in Smuggling of Migrants Towards a Coordinated National Response” held in Abuja.
Nandap said achieving success in tackling migrant smuggling demands a coherent national strategy that brings together government agencies, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector.
She noted that Nigeria continues to make progress through active participation in the Khartoum, Rabat, and Niamey Processes, which were recently concluded in Lagos from November 4–5, 2025. The dialogues, she said, aim to foster cooperation and harmonized action against irregular migration.
“These frameworks have strengthened border governance, improved migration management systems, expanded legal pathways, and enhanced intelligence sharing across origin, transit, and destination countries,” she said.
Highlighting recent NIS efforts, the Comptroller General listed several key initiatives:
- Strengthening Legal and Institutional Frameworks: Ongoing review of key legal instruments, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to address emerging migration trends and operational challenges.
- Public Awareness and Advocacy: Over 577,200 NYSC members have been sensitized on the dangers of irregular migration. The 2025 Nationwide Anti-Smuggling Sensitization Campaign, launched in Lagos, now operates across the states, reaching schools, markets, worship centres, and motor parks. Plans are also underway to establish Anti-Smuggling Clubs in schools and within the NYSC Community Development Service structure.
- Capacity Building: Through partnerships, the Service has expanded training programmes and strengthened personnel ability to detect, prevent, and respond effectively to smuggling activities.
- Enhanced Partnerships: Cooperation with the African Union (AU), ECOWAS, EU, IOM, UNODC, FIIAPP, ICMPD, INTERPOL, and the Federal German Police, among others, continues to deepen intelligence sharing, joint operations, and coordinated interventions.
- Operational Achievements: Recently, NIS border patrol at Seme Border denied entry to 332 migrants without valid travel documents, refused exit to 294 Nigerians suspected of attempting irregular migration, and rescued 36 victims of human trafficking and child labour. These operations were supported by the installation of new CCTV surveillance systems.
Nandap emphasized that the fight against smuggling of migrants is not only a security imperative but also a moral responsibility, stressing that every smuggled migrant represents a life at risk, a family disrupted, and a community deprived of potential.
“Our collective duty is to ensure that no Nigerian is left vulnerable to exploitation or deception.
“As we strengthen our legal frameworks, expand public awareness, and deepen partnerships, let us reaffirm our commitment to coordinated action. No single institution can confront this crime alone, it requires synergy across agencies, communities, and borders,” she said.
She urged all stakeholders, government bodies, international organizations, civil society, faith-based groups, educators, and the private sector to work together with determination and clarity of purpose, adding that success depends on unified national action guided by the principles of protection, accountability, and human dignity.