NIS tightens blue borders to enhance security

<p>The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has finalized plans to tighten all marine borders across the country to ensure maximum security of the coastal environment and check the influx of persons with suspicious characters into the country.</p>, <p>The Acting Comptroller General of the Service, Mrs Caroline Adepoju, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen on Saturday in Uyo after a two-day familiarization tour of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Akwa Ibom Command.</p>, <p>She noted that the Akwa Ibom command has the longest coastal borders that must not be left porous to avoid nefarious activities within the maritime environment.</p>, <p>She said that since the Government had tightened air and land borders across the country, marine borders would not be left porous.</p>, <p>The acting comptroller general added that the government was working hard within the available resources to provide the necessary logistics to secure the blue borders.</p>, <p>“As I said, the Akwa Ibom State Command houses one of our longest coastal borders, and we are working hard as we have done in the air and land borders. We want to tighten the security around coastal borders.</p>, <p>“We don’t want the marine area, the blue borders of Nigeria, to be porous. We don’t want people of shady characters to perpetrate nefarious activities using our blue borders.</p>, <p>“That is why I am here, and since I came, I discovered that in Nigeria Immigration Service, we have trained officers, we have dedicated officers, we have people who are willing to work, but we are in need of logistics.</p>, <p>“We need the Government to help us; we need gunboats to be able to patrol our coastal borders. We need good offices and residential accommodation for our personnel, who are working in these coastal borders,” Adepoju said.</p>, <p>The acting comptroller general assured officers and men of the command that the government would continue to attach great importance to their welfare.</p>, <p>She charged the personnel to continue to show dedication and commitme