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…Blames menace on false promises, misinformation, limited awareness
The Controller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nandap, has raised the alarm over high level of migrations risks many Nigerians involve themselves.
She blamed the trend on misinformation, false promises, and limited awareness about migration pathways.
Nandap raises the alarm at a stakeholder sensitisation and engagement seminar themed “Bridging the Information Gap: Promoting Informed, Safe and Regular Migration.” held in Abuja on Wednesday.
Represented by Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) in charge of Visa and Residency Directorate, Franca Usiwoma Nwanneka, she said that preventing the risks requires more than border control.
The NIS CG emphasised that human trafficking, migrant smuggling, travel fraud, and irregular migration highlight the risk of inadequate information and intelligence sharing among operational stakeholders.
Nandap therefore charged government agencies, security institutions, development partners, traditional and community leaders, civil society organisations, educational institutions, transport operators, and the media to move beyond dialogue and take coordinated, practical action to combat the menace.
“This is an important gathering dedicated to advancing informed, safe, and orderly migration for the benefit of individuals and society. Every day people choose to migrate in pursuit of education, employment, safety, and better opportunities.
“While these aspirations are legitimate, decisions based on misinformation, false promises, or limited awareness of safe and lawful migration pathways can expose individuals to serious risks and devastating consequences.
“Human trafficking, migrant smuggling, travel fraud, and irregular migration highlight the risk of inadequate information and intelligence sharing among operational stakeholders.
“Preventing these risks requires more than border control. It begins with equipping prospective migrants with accurate, timely, and reliable information to make informed decisions and pursue safe, lawful migration pathways.
“The theme of this seminar, bridging the information gap, promoting informed, safe, and regular migration is therefore both timely and relevant.
“As the agency with statutory responsibility for immigration control and migration management, the Nigeria Immigration Service continues to strengthen its operational capacities through institutional reforms, modern border management technologies, intelligence gathering, and improved service delivery.
“Our ongoing initiatives, including the recent deployment of the border control and immigration management system and other technology-driven platforms, reflect our determination to build a modern, responsive, and intelligence-led immigration service.
“Nevertheless, we recognise that even the most sophisticated border management systems cannot on their own address the underlying factors that encourage irregular migration,” she said.
Speaking further, Nandap, said: “This is the overarching imperative why we are gathering here today to enable actionable solutions to emerging challenges of irregular migration.”
“In addition, sensitisation of the general public, community engagement, and cooperation among relevant institutions must remain central to our approach. Migration sensitisation is a shared responsibility that cannot be left to the NIS alone.
“I therefore call on government agencies, security institutions, development partners, traditional and community leaders, civil society organisations, educational institutions, transport operators, and the media to move beyond seminar dialogue and take coordinated, practical action to combat misinformation, raise public awareness, and promote safe, informed, and lawful migration.
“Together, we must ensure that accurate migration information reaches every community, particularly those most vulnerable to exploitation and irregular migration. Ladies and gentlemen, these considerations make today’s engagement particularly important,” she charged.
Earlier, Senior Programme Associate, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Nnenna Onuoha, in a statement noted: “As we gather here to deliberate on irregular migration and what we can do as a community to make regular migration more of an everyday thing in the country, IOM Nigeria, send her regards and bring up our goodwill to this gathering and hope and wish all of us fruitful deliberations and actionable outcomes.”
