The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has called on security agencies operating at the country’s frontiers to strengthen collaboration in order to stem human trafficking and drug smuggling.
Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration for Zone A (Lagos and Ogun), Echefulam Anugwa, delivered the message during an inspection tour of the Seme border and Lagos Border Patrol Commands on Wednesday.
Anugwa warned that weak cooperation undermines national security and pressed agencies to embrace intelligence sharing, joint patrols, and modern technologies such as biometric verification. “The goal is to build a united front against complex threats that cut across borders,” he said.
The senior official promised to lobby for more patrol vehicles to boost effectiveness and confirmed that newly procured uniforms and ID cards would soon be distributed.
Comptroller Abdullahi Adamu of the Seme Command said officers already work in synergy with other agencies, while Lagos Border Patrol head Peter Adache revealed that over 100 trafficking victims had recently been intercepted and returned to their families.
As part of the visit, Anugwa met with the Akran of Badagry and his chiefs, who raised concerns about the proliferation of checkpoints along the Agbara-Badagry-Seme corridor. They alleged that security personnel routinely extort local residents and appealed for intervention to curb the abuses.
