THE Regular Migration Command and Control Centre has begun 24-hour operations on Monday, November 11, at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Sauka, Abuja.
The centre, according to the Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who appeared on Politics Today on Channels Television, would enable a real-time monitoring of all international airports in the country, with plans to extend coverage to land and sea borders.
Tunji-Ojo stated that the centre which is located at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Sauka, Abuja, went live for 24-hour operations following an induction programme held about two weeks ago.
He explained that the centre allows comprehensive oversight across international airports in Nigeria.
“It’s there (command centre) 100 per cent complete. Just yesterday we started the 24-hour operation of the command and control centre in the Nigerian Immigration Service Headquarters in Sauka, Abuja. It covers all the Nigerian international airports in the country,” Tunji-Ojo stated.
He further noted plans to integrate the system with Nigeria’s land and sea borders, which he said would further enhance its reach.
He noted that in addition to the airport monitoring, the centre’s Advanced Passenger Information System (API), also allowed immigration officers to receive and assess data from airlines such as KLM prior to passengers’ arrival in Nigeria.
Tunji-Ojo emphasised that this “interactive API” facilitated objective, data-driven profiling, rather than relying on subjective assessments.
“We are also integrating our land and sea borders into that. And the API, I promise, the Advanced Passengers Information System, is often live now. We started receiving data from KLM and a lot of others so have started decrypting profile of people before they come into Nigeria, taking a decision and looking at everything which is integrated to the criminal record system to the interpol and a lot of other things.
“What we do now is 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 is not just an API, it’s an IAPI-an interactive API, the best you can get in the world and i challenge anybody to disapprove that, the minister said.
Tunji-Ojo stressed that to ensure continuous and uninterrupted operations, the federal government has installed a 0.5MW solar farm at the NIS headquarters, powering the centre and its associated facilities, including data and visa approval centres.
Recall that the minister on, October 29, during the induction ceremony for operational officers of the Command and Control Centre for Regular Migration in Abuja, said that “not a single person would be able to come into Nigeria without the NIS pre-profiling the individual.
He said: “What we are doing today is the regular migration command and control centre. Very soon, we will come up with the irregular migration command and control centre.
“We won’t just rely on our airports but ensure that our land and marine borders, anybody coming in, is pre-profiled. Very soon the president will be commissioning the e-gates in our international airports,” Tunji-Ojo said.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M