By BOARDERS NOW TO BE MONITORED ELECTRONICALLY AS FG APPROVES N52 BILLION FOR IMPLEMENTATION
In other to ensure the safety of the country’s boarder, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N52 billion for the electronic monitoring.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, after the FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, April 25, 2019.
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The minister disclosed that the project has been tested in two border posts and will be fully implemented in all of Nigeria’s 86 border posts and 1,400 illegal routes being used for smuggling and other crimes.
He stressed the need to use modern technology to monitor the borders because it is impossible to monitor them physically.
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He said,
“This process started in 2012 but we picked it up to move forward when we came in. The project is to be completed within the next two years.
“There is a pilot project already which has been very successful; it was installed to monitor two borders.
“This project is going to cover 86 border posts in the country. We will be able to also monitor 1,400 illegal routes that are used for smuggling and all kinds of cross border criminal activities.”
The minister disclosed that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) will work very closely with other security agencies like the Nigeria Air Force and Nigerian Army units deployed near borders, as well as the Nigeria Customs Service.
“The information will be available real-time 24/7,” he said.
The government has complained several times about the nation’s insecure entry points. President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the porous borders for the proliferation of arms in the country.
Terrorist group, Boko Haram, has notoriously used the porous borders in the northeast to extend its operations to neighbouring communities especially Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
