By Suleiman Adamu, Sokoto
No fewer than 30 Europe bound victims of human trafficking and suspected traffickers in persons were intercepted between January and October , 2022 on the Nigeria and Niger republic border en- by the Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) , Illela border Command , Sokoto state according Mr Victor Nwokike , Comptroller of the Command.
Nwokike who disclosed to reporters in Illela town border Command of the service said the victims and the suspected traffickers were intercepted during operations at various times.
He said” luck ran out of them when they were trying to cross the border into neighbouring Niger republic but for the tight security by the NIS in synergy with other agencies , proved difficult for the to access illegal entry points at the border.”
The Comptroller continued : ” We work in synergy with other security Organizations at the Border through shared information on the influx of illegal immigrants and prevention and control of human trafficking into the country.
” Our border entry point is highly secured and we would do everything possible to keep it safe against would-be terrorists and illegal aliens who may want to use our entry point to cross into the country to cause mayhem.
” We will ensure that those coming into the country are those with valid documents and doing legitimate businesses, especially now that campaign for general elections had already kick-started”, he stated.
Accordingly, the Comptroller disclosed that the command had engaged in daily regular patrol operations and surveillance on foot, motorcycles and Hilux vehicles along the border’s porous areas to checkmate, track and apprehend persons attempting to use such illegal entry points.
He explained that since the commencement of operations in 2021 by the new command, NAPTIP had been busy with handing over of victims intercepted for human trafficking by NIS.
However, Nwokike said the command’s major challenge was the issue of inadequate manpower , hence affecting the smooth conduct and effective patrol and surveillance of border areas under its jurisdiction.
He assured of the border Command readiness to strengthen and effectively intensify efforts in synergy with other agencies at preventing illegal entry and smuggling of Allie s into the country while vowing that ” we will uphold the principles of strict enforcement of criminal provisions of the service as well national laws.”
In the same vein, he appealed to border communities not to hesitate to give intelligence information to Illela NIS border Command to effectively and efficiently sustain its operational activities of keeping the border safe and secured.
