2027: NIS begins preparations, vows to dam overseas mercenaries, illicit arms

… Warns personnel towards partisanship

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has launched into preparations resulting in 2027 common elections, promising to tighten surveillance on the nation’s borders towards overseas mercenaries and stop illicit arms.

The administration of NIS additionally cautioned it’s personnel towards partisanship, saying the Service doesn’t belong to any political celebration.

The Comptroller General of the Service, Kemi Nana Nandap, made the pledge Friday in Abuja at a sensitisation workshop on election safety for senior personnel, themed: “The strategic role of the NIS in Election Monitoring and intimidation.”

The Immigration boss, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller General DCG answerable for Visa and Residency, Dr Franca Usiwoma Nwanneka, stated: “As the company charged with the mandate of border safety and migration administration, we occupy a strategic place within the nation’s safety structure. We should subsequently stay alert to the inflow of foreigners, notably irregular migration, trafficking in individuals, smuggling of migrants, and different transnational legal actions able to undermining nationwide safety.

“As we put together for the 2027 common elections, allow us to be guided by the frequent function to guard our nationwide safety, uphold the rule of regulation, and contribute to an electoral surroundings during which each Nigerian can train their democratic rights peacefully and with out intimidation.

“As we prepare for the 2027 general elections, let us be guided by the common purpose to protect our national security, uphold the rule of law, and contribute to an electoral environment in which every Nigerian can exercise their democratic rights peacefully and without intimidation.”

The Comptroller General pressured that the service can’t do that alone.

“No single agency can address the complex security challenges confronting our nation in isolation,” the handle stated, appreciating “the continued partnership” of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC and different safety companies.

“Let us subsequently reiterate that the Nigeria Immigration Service stays a non-partisan establishment. Under no circumstances ought to our personnel use official assets to advertise partisan pursuits.

“You must ensure that our commands are adequately prepared before, during, and after elections through strengthening surveillance, intelligence gathering, effective deployment, and close coordination with relevant security agencies,” she stated.

In inter-agency work, the CG stated the service’s participation within the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security ICCES have to be proactive, purposeful, and result-orientated.

“I expect every senior officer to lead by example and take full responsibility for maintaining professional standards within their respective formats,” she acknowledged.

In his remarks, Director General, Department of State Services DSS, Oluwatosin Ajayi advised the gathering that electoral durations appeal to makes an attempt to take advantage of the nation’s frontiers for the motion of “illicit arms, mercenaries” and others bent on undermining the democratic course of.

Represented by the Deputy Director General, Operations and Intelligence, Mr Patrick Ikenweiwe, the spy chief stated, “The Nigerian Immigration Service therefore stands at the first line of national defence, and its vigilance remains indispensable to a peaceful, credible exercise.”

The DSS, he stated, stays dedicated to deeper collaboration with the NIS, “particularly along our land borders and at entry points. No single agency can secure the electoral space alone. Our strength lies in absolute synergy,” he added.

He urged supervisors “to lead by example and to uphold neutrality and professionalism throughout the electoral cycle.”

David Ojelabi, who represented the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Prof. Ahmed Audi, described early preparation as a matter of nationwide safety.

“Elections are the clearest expression of social contracts between citizens and states, and their credibility rests solely on the confidence that that process is secure, orderly, and fair. With the 2027 general elections approaching, early and deliberate preparations are a national security necessity,” he added.

He listed the prevention of overseas interference among the many service’s contributions within the electoral cycle, alongside the management of land, air and maritime entry factors and the enforcement of immigration regulation “firmly and without partisanship. Preparedness is more than equipment and numbers,” he stated, noting that it’s “the ability to accept threats, deploy quickly, and respond lawfully and neutrally.”