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By Amos Odhe
The comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Rivers State Command, Comptroller James Sunday, has rated the contributions of the service to the socio-economic growth of the nation high, declaring that the service as a major investment driver of the country.
According to Comptroller James Sunday, despite the fact that the service serves as gatekeepers for the nation, by manning the entry and exit of persons in the form of migration, the NIS has done a lot with respect to the social, economic, political, security, educational, and religious development of the country, as well its health status, with regard to the National Visa Policy and other extant rules on entry, exit, investment, residence of visitors into the country.
The comptroller, who made this known during an interactive session with media practitioners, observed that the NIS played a major role in controlling entry and exit into the country during the ravaging days of Ebola and corona virus, adding that “the Immigration service at the frontline at the airports and land borders, had to play prominent role in controlling human movement into and out of the country.
“The health security of the country was also preserved and sustained through migration management and control, refusing ill health persons and carriers of transmittable diseases into Nigeria, between the years the country was faced by the pandemics, this I call ‘a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.”
He noted that Nigeria Immigration Service also showed special capacity and played impactful role during special security operations, including the Joint Task Force, JTF, operations, “which are visible in the supporting roles played to back up the military at the frontline of the theatre in the North East, as personnel of the service were drafted in their hundreds to the North East and involved in both defense support, sorting out of forcefully conscripted and abducted Nigerians, by the insurgents, from other apprehended non-Nigerians intercepted within cross-fire and rescued during operations.
“Or those on the run, intercepted during patrols around safe corridors, or those holed out from hideouts around the theatre of war along the flanks of the borderlines of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states, areas that experienced the greater effect of the asymmetric war between the federal forces and the insurgents. The role of sorting out is major to avoid mistaken Nigerians for non-Nigerians when rescuing displayed persons, refugees, abducted Nigerians and non-Nigerians, preventing irregular entry and safe exits where necessary.
“On investment drive, the Nigeria Immigration Service National Visa policy plays prominent role in ensuring the right type of visa is issued to prospective visitors, experts and migrants of whatever category to permit legal and regular entry into Nigeria with an appropriate visa, such as the Visa on Arrival, VoA, Business Visa for Business discussions and investment drives, Temporary Work Permit, TWP, for experts invited for major high skilled maintenance, servicing and repair works, for which there are no local experts within the country who are capable of carrying out such operations.
“Those coming for full employment are giving Subject To Regularisation, STR visa to take up employment on a quota based employment in company. These are areas that call for enforcement, monitoring, surveillance and deployment of operatives around the country by the Nigeria Immigration Service in the 36 state commands and FCT, where monitoring, control and supervision of activities and engagements of migrants residents, workers and visitors is carried out through the instrumentality and enforcement of the provisions of the Immigration Act, 2015 and Immigration Regulations 2017 and other extant rules of service and the grand norm, the Nigerian Constitution.
“The Nigeria Immigration Service under Comptroller General Isa Jere Idris, has witnessed massive deployment of human and capital resources to the North East, especially the personnel recently mobilised in their hundreds to the Joint Task Force, those on border patrols around the country and operations at the international airports across the country, border control posts, patrol bases and marine patrols, all in an effort to check influx and irregular migrations in and out of the country,” he said.
Comptroller James Sunday noted that the deployment of seasoned and highly skilled heads of command to every state as comptrollers is geared towards ensuring effective border security in the states and curbing influx of irregular migrants, monitoring and control of those on permits/visas issued to enable them visit, work and reside and to ensure they operate within stipulated frame and space for their work, residence, visit, investment and are doing what they are legitimately allowed by the law in accordance with the visas they entered the country with.
“Each state command by its peculiarity operates either as land-lock, sea border or air border and are managed and controlled with facilities commensurate to their location, deploying necessary Immigration assets for effective performance of the operatives.
“For us in Rivers State, the state is bordered by the sea, blue economy and offshore operations by multinationals, air border operations is prevalent, through helipads and the international airports. These form major operational activities around which the economic activities of the country revolve, due to oil exploration activities of the multinational oil companies and explorers, their experts, operatives whose movement in and out of the state to platforms offshore must be monitored and controlled for proper documentation and to ensure needed security of the country, amidst sustained investment drive,” he said.
He insisted that the Nigeria Immigration Service beyond issuance and administration of passport and other travel documents, migration control through issuance of visas, residence permits, is a major investment driver of the country.