The Federal Government has deployed artificial intelligence-assisted tools and digital audit trails across the Nigeria Immigration Service to strengthen border surveillance and monitor the activities of officers in real time.
Speaking on Friday at the closing ceremony of a specialised training on the Border Control and Immigration Management System, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, said the technology is designed to detect suspicious migration patterns, eliminate disconnected databases, and enforce strict accountability.
Speaking on the operational impact of the new technology, she stated that every action taken on the system can now be audited, putting direct responsibility on personnel to comply with established procedures.
“Your access to this system is a position of trust, not a personal privilege. Every action you take in this system can be reviewed. Work as though it will be,” she said.
Nandap said the integration of the BMIS with the Migration Information and Data Analysis System had brought together more than 15 million migration records, enabling authorised officers to access a more coordinated picture of identity, movement, and potential security risks.
She said the achievement lay not simply in the number of records held but in the ability to make previously scattered information available when required for operational decisions.
“Fragmented records, isolated decisions, and outdated methods cannot meet these demands,” she said, adding that modern migration management required connected information, capable officers, and accountable leadership.
The service is also deploying secure mobile devices to extend verification beyond fixed terminals.
Nandap cautioned, however, that mobility must not weaken confidentiality or security standards, insisting that officers must apply the same safeguards to handheld devices as they do to office-based systems.
She said artificial intelligence tools would be used to flag patterns for further examination, not to make final decisions independently.
The Comptroller-General identified accuracy, integrity, judgement, readiness, and accountability as five non-negotiable standards for the 87 officers who completed the specialised training.
Under these standards, officers must ensure that entries into the system are accurate, correct errors only through approved procedures, protect their access credentials, maintain assigned equipment, and escalate suspicious cases through established channels.
She also charged supervisors to ensure that officers were properly deployed, equipment remained operational, and reports were completed as required.
Nandap said the success of the programme would be measured by its effect on actual border operations rather than the number of officers trained or devices distributed.
She listed improved record accuracy, consistent checks, prompt escalation of alerts, reliable system availability, and the lawful treatment of travellers among the indicators by which the reforms would be judged.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the government had developed a 10-year technology roadmap and established a data centre with a capacity exceeding eight petabytes, supported by a solar farm that enables the data control centre to operate off-grid.
The minister said the wider Centralised Interior Management System was intended to integrate relevant information systems across the ministry, including correctional and fire administration platforms, while improving coordination with identity management institutions.
He argued that managing migration in a country of more than 200 million people through analogue processes was no longer sustainable, particularly when authorities needed reliable information on the identities and status of people entering, leaving, or residing in Nigeria.
Tunji-Ojo questioned official records that reportedly put the number of foreign nationals working in the country at about 40,000, arguing that the figure illustrated the need for more comprehensive data and stronger coordination among government agencies.
“When you do not have the data of those foreigners residing in your country, then how do you manage their affairs? And how do you monitor them?” he asked.
The minister cited the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States as a warning about the security consequences of intelligence that fails to reach relevant authorities because information systems are disconnected.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is addressing such weaknesses before they contribute to a major security failure.