FG begins 24-hour surveillance of international airports to curb illegal migration

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, says the federal government’s command and control centre established to curb the illegal entry of foreigners into the country is fully active.

Speaking on Tuesday during his appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Tunji-Ojo said the centre has commenced 24-hour operation since Monday.

On October 28, the minister said the federal government planned to establish a command and control centre to check irregular migration into the country.

He noted that the centre would be responsible for the rigorous screening of individuals entering Nigeria via land borders.

“We did the induction programme about two weeks ago. Just yesterday, we started the 24-hour operation of the command and control centre at Soka, the immigration headquarters in Abuja,” Tunji-Ojo said.

“All our international airports are on it. It’s there, live and direct. Even our land and sea borders are being integrated there because of what we call a regular migration control centre.

“And the APIS that I promised the other time—that’s the advanced passenger information system—is also live now.

“We started receiving data from KLM and a lot of others.

“So, we have started the pre-profiling of people before they come into Nigeria, taking a decision, looking and integrating, which is integrated to the criminal records system, to the Interpol, and a lot of other things I won’t be able to talk deeply into. So, that is live and direct.”

The minister said the control centre enables authorities to be well-informed about individuals, their current location, origin, recent movements, and travel route before they arrive in the country.

“So, what it means now is that it’s no longer subjective profiling. What we do now is objective profiling, just like you see anywhere in the world. And what we have in Nigeria, it’s not just an API,” he said.

“It’s an IAPI, an interactive API, which is top-notch, the best you can get anywhere in the world, and I challenge anybody to dispute that; we already have that.”

He added that every detail, from the command centre to the visa approval center, has been carefully addressed to guarantee seamless functionality within the complex.

Tunji-Ojo said the ministry installed a 500kW and 0.5MW solar farm to ensure uninterrupted operations of the control centre.