AL-HAU24news

BY MIJINYAWA BABA-AGAIE MINNA

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has been properly repositioned to handle migration management in line with international best practice, the state comptroller of the service in Niger State Mr.Samuel Shima Nongo has disclosed.

He said this was demonstrated by being the first African country to key
into latest international reforms travel documents and the service recent emergence as four times winner of the best performing agency in ease of doing business as rated by the Presidential ‘Enabling Business Environment Council’

The comptroller who stated this at the diamond jubilee celebration of the service held at the conference Hall of Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International conference centre in Minna Thursday explained that the Nigeria Immigration Service started it journey as a department extracted from the Nigeria police in 1958

According to the state comptroller of the service, it was later established as an agency of government by an Act of parliament in 1963 adding that in 1992 it was a para- military status as a result of some structural reforms.

The service he noted has over the years continued to witness further reforms both structurally and operationally, stating that in the last decade, it has witnessed robust reforms in legal framework, embracing information technology as the driver of it’s operations and building the capacity of its personnel to enable them emerging challenges associated with migration management

The sixty anniversary celebration according to the state comptroller,is an occasion deliberately designed to commemorate the journey sofar as well as mark the significant milestones achieved within this period.

He pointed out that that Nigeria Immigration Service is the lead agency in migration management stressing it is important to note that migration management is the business of government at all levels as well as all citizens.

” Terrorism and kidnapping are crimes that are aliens to us,today they have permeated our societies because they are trans-border crimes.
“Government at all levels must invest in migration management to forstall or at least minimize trans-border crimes. The citizens too must change their orientation to stop harbouring irregular migrants because of the dangers it portends” he asserted

Comptroller Samuel Nongo, while acknowledging the support of Niger State government at all times he appealed to the governor of the state to look into the state security architecture with a view to bringing all security agencies on board in tackling the menace of insecurity bedeviling the state.