By Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The federal government has arrested foreigners on Interpol’s Red Notice list and handed them over to the organisation, thanks to its Advanced Passenger Information (API) System.
Interior Minister Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced this during a joint press briefing with Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo in Abuja on Tuesday.
He highlighted the importance of inter-ministerial teamwork, which made the arrests possible. “So, once again, I want to specially thank the Ministry of Aviation,” he said. “You’ve been very supportive in all our dealings, and I have to say this, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve a quarter of what we’ve achieved in terms of our border security and control without your active support.”
Tunji-Ojo also revealed the installation of E-Gates at airport terminals. “Today, all our terminals in Lagos, Calabar, and Abuja airports have our E-Gates installed and working fine, giving Nigerians comfort and also securing our borders,” he noted. “After the API solution, we came again with the E-Gates, and we thank our landlord (Ministry of Aviation) for the support.”
He introduced the next steps. “Now, after the E-Gates, the third leg is why we’re here today, which is with regard to the E-Visa and the introduction of automated landing and exit cards,” he said.
“We understand prior to now, we’ve always had the exit and landing cards, but in a manual way. You had to fill a paper form. But we say Nigeria is a country of 230 million brilliant people, and we have to lead the pack when it comes to technology. And in view of that, we are automating that, and all this takes effect from 1 May 2025.”
Keyamo echoed the need for collaboration. “Today is another example of that kind of co-operation and collaboration, and this has to do with the introduction of E-Visa,” he said. “We have agreed with our agencies—Immigration, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)—to work tirelessly, smoothly on this new initiative.” He added that the two ministers had met several times off-camera to align efforts.