The Nigeria Immigration Service says it is accelerating the deployment of digital identity systems, automated border controls and intelligence-led surveillance to strengthen border security while facilitating legitimate movement and cross-border trade.
NIS Comptroller-General, Kemi Nandap, disclosed this in Lagos at the 2026 conference of the African Borderlands Research Network.
Nandap said the service was upgrading biometric systems, deploying electronic gates at international airports and investing in surveillance, communications and integrated data platforms across Nigeria’s land, air and maritime borders.
She also identified human trafficking, migrant smuggling, identity fraud, organised crime, terrorism and cyber-enabled offences as growing threats to Nigeria’s borders.
The NIS boss stressed that technology would complement, rather than replace, competent immigration personnel and called for stronger partnerships with border communities to improve intelligence gathering and security.
