Esther Oritse
Lagos — The Nigerian Immigration Service said it has concluded plans to partner with the Nigerian Navy to curb criminality and terrorism across the nation’s international maritime domain.
The Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, stated this in Lagos when she led a team on a visit to the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft in Apapa recently.
The visit was part of the regional workshop on maritime border security co-hosted by the NIS with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre.
Represented at the event by a Deputy Controller of the NIS, Muhammad Umar, the CG explained that the visit was not about addressing stowaways alone but other maritime-related crimes.
“As part of that programme, this is why we are here. So it is not only about stowaways, it is about how to control criminality and terrorism across our international maritime domain,” she said.
Speaking on the visit to the Navy, Umar stressed that the service was working in conjunction with the Navy to ensure adequate maritime protection.
“The Navy is responsible for the protection of our international territorial waters. So the ships and every other economic activity at the port or along the maritime domains are done in conjunction with these agencies. And it is all done within the context of what we call the four Cs,”
Earlier, the Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft, Commodore Paul Nimmyel, said, “Collaboration with other security agencies to rid the maritime space of maritime crimes is one of the key mandates of the base. We collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service and the Immigration Service, among others.”
According to him, when criminals are arrested on the waterways, the Navy carries out proper documentation before handing them over to the appropriate authority.
“So when we arrest criminals or would-be criminals in the maritime space, we do their proper documentation. We now hand them over to the appropriate agencies. Like you’ve seen today, the exercise was to simulate stowaways, which is a frequent occurrence on board our ships that come to our waters,” he said.
