Bandits, illegal aliens thrive despite FG’s N9bn e-border project

PUNCH

Despite the Federal Government’s multi-billion-naira border surveillance systems launched in 2019, illegal migrants, some of whom have been identified as bandits, terrorists and kidnappers, continue to cross into Nigeria from the Republics of Benin, Chad, Niger, Mali and Cameroon.

This is as the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said e-border surveillance is now being mounted across the nation’s borders with its neighbouring countries.

“As we speak, more than half of our borders have been automated. There are visuals, and a lot of processes going on now. So, effectively, there is e-border surveillance now in our borders.

“By October (2024), we will be done with the first phase of the e-border surveillance project, including our marine borders. Now, we have the command and control for air and land. You cannot secure your borders effectively without technology,” Tunji-Ojo said in a live national television programme in May 2024.

At the launch of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Technology Innovation Complex in early December 2024, the minister said about 250 trained Immigration Service personnel run 24-hour shifts at the e-border control centre.

However, some foreigners still crossed to Nigeria from the Republic of Benin through the Baruten/Kaiama border posts despite the closure of the border by the FG.

Checks by The PUNCH from residents of border communities in the Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara state revealed that illegal immigrants still crossed the border into the country daily.

The immediate past chairman of Baruten Local Government Council, Abdulrasheed Abdullahi, who spoke with one of our correspondents, said that citizens of the Benin Republic are still migrating into the country through several illegal routes.

Abdullahi said, “Although the border posts have been closed since 2020 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to beef up security, the border closure has not stopped citizens of Benin Republic who are our neighbours from coming into the country.”

“The e-border control system installed to stop the illegal immigrants from coming to the country had not stopped their citizens from entering Nigeria,” Abdullahi, who ended his tenure as the council chairman in September 2024, added.

The Federal Executive Council approved N52bn for the e-border surveillance system in 2019 to monitor and provide real-time information from major border posts nationwide.

However, the project faced delays due to funding challenges and did not commence until 2022. Nigeria’s extensive borders, covering approximately 5,330 kilometres, have numerous illegal entry points and present ongoing security challenges.

The Nigeria Immigration Service says it has since deployed advanced e-border solutions to over 80 crossing points nationwide, marking the project’s first phase. It says the e-border system offers real-time, 24/7 monitoring and intelligence, enabling better tracking and management of border activities.

Speaking in a telephone with The PUNCH on Monday, the Emir of Yashikira, a border community in Baruten LGA, Umoru Usman, said foreigners cross into the locality daily.

Usman explained, “Despite the border closure and the e-border control system installed by the Federal Government to stop illegal immigration into the country, which are all moves by the government to ensure security, the people from the Benin Republic who are our neighbours still crossed the border. Though we cannot give the figure, people are still crossing the borders on a daily basis.”

When reached for the comments, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kenneth Udo, did not respond to calls to his mobile line. Also, text messages sent to his mobile and WhatsApp number were not answered as of this report.