Nigerian Government Begins Deployment of Border Technology To Combat Illegal Migration

After years of complaints, the Nigerian government is finally stepping up its border control efforts. The Federal Government has finally approved the use of Border technology to help prop up to the country’s borders.

The approach was proposed by the country’s minister of interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau. The Federal Executive Council, which is made up of ministers, the Vice President and the President, approved his proposal on Thursday.

Border security has been a critical challenge for Nigeria which has long been ignored. Officially, there are 86 border posts at several exits of the country. However in reality, illegal immigrants simply walk into the country with little or no challenges. The government says there are over 1,400 illegal points of entry on the Nigerian border.

In a globalized world with transnational crimes festering in the forms of terrorism, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, Nigeria’s porous borders is a huge threat to National Security.

But now, the government has approved the use of technology to police the country’s borders. The government is calling the solution “eBorder” (electronic border). In reality though, the proposed solutions is simply the deployment of various border technologies across different land exits in Nigeria.

But there are no much details about the proposed border technology solutions. Globally though, border technology solutions include the use of drones, underground sensors, heat sensors, long range surveillance cameras, among many others. Over the years, the cost of delivering such solutions has reduced greatly. So perhaps this is why the government is introducing the technology now.

However, Dambazzau revealed that the solution was devised way back in 2012, and a pilot project is already been implemented.

“There is a pilot project already which has been very successful. It was installed to monitor two borders,” he told reporters.

He says the full deployment of the border technology solution would cost the country N52 billion. The project is expected to be fully implemented within two years.

The implementation of the new border technology solution will see the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) work closely with the army and the air force to protect the country’s land borders.