The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has intensified its crackdown on the smuggling of migrants, recording major operational successes including the denial of entry to 332 undocumented migrants, prevention of 294 irregular departures, and the rescue of 36 victims of human trafficking and child labour at the Seme Border.
Comptroller General of Immigration, Kemi Nanna Nandap, pcc, mmis, fsmn, revealed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a one-day stakeholders’ sensitization seminar themed “Evolving Patterns in Smuggling of Migrants: Towards a Coordinated National Response.”
She emphasized that migrant smuggling poses a growing threat to national security, dignity, and the socio-economic stability of Nigerian families, noting that the NIS remains resolute in leading a coordinated national and international effort to curb the menace.
“Every smuggled migrant represents a life placed at risk, a family disrupted, and a community robbed of its potential,” Nandap stated. “Our collective duty is to ensure that no Nigerian is left vulnerable to exploitation or deception.”
Highlighting recent achievements, Nandap disclosed that the Service has installed CCTV surveillance systems across key border points, bolstering monitoring and intelligence operations. Through intensified border control, the NIS has thwarted attempts by criminal syndicates exploiting citizens under the guise of irregular migration, popularly known as the “Japa Syndrome.”
The Service is reviewing key laws, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to address emerging migration trends.
Over 577,200 NYSC members have been sensitized this year alone, with outreach expanded to schools, markets, religious centres, and motor parks. Plans are underway to establish Anti-Smuggling Clubs within secondary schools and the NYSC community structure.
Training programmes have been expanded to improve the ability of NIS officers to detect and counter smuggling networks.
The NIS continues to deepen ties with AU, ECOWAS, EU, IOM, UNODC, INTERPOL, and other global partners to enhance intelligence sharing, border security, and coordinated responses.
The Comptroller General also referenced Nigeria’s active participation in the Khartoum, Rabat, and Niamey Processes a regional platform recently hosted in Lagos from November 4-5, 2025 focused on improving dialogue, migration management, and border governance across African states.
She noted that these frameworks have improved intelligence coordination and opened legal migration pathways, stressing that combating the smuggling of migrants requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
“No single institution can confront this crime alone,” Nandap asserted. “It requires synergy across agencies, across communities, and across borders.”
Nandap urged government agencies, civil society, faith-based groups, educators, and the private sector to sustain partnerships in tackling the menace.
She concluded by calling for collective action and reaffirming NIS’s commitment to a Nigeria “where safe, orderly, and regular migration is the norm, and where the criminal economy of migrant smuggling finds no space to thrive.”
