The agency has also constituted an anti-corruption team in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Offences Commission, ICPC.

These developments are contained in statements issued by the NIS and signed by its Public Relations Officer, Amos Okpu, an Assistant Comptroller of Immigration.

Okpu said the redeployment was contained in a circular vide NIS/HQ/ADM/4423/170 and dated 1 August, 2022, noting that eight Assistant Comptrollers General, ACG, and 61 Comptrollers of Immigration, CIS, were moved across divisions, zones and commands.

NIS listed some of the officials affected to include the Assistant Comptroller General, ACG, formerly in charge of Ogun State Command, Kolawole Amao, who has now been deployed to the General Services Division at the Service Headquarters Abuja, while Kemi Nandap, another ACG who was formerly in-charge of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command, is now the head of the Combined Expatriate and Residence Permit Card Division (CERPAC) at the Service Headquarters.

Replacing Ms Nandap at the MMIA Command is Adeola Adesokan who has been moved from Training and Staff Development, ISD, in Abuja, while the acting Principal Staff Officer, PSO, to the Comptroller General, Ahmed Mustapha, has been replaced by MM Saddiq, a Comptroller.

Mr Mustapha is now the Comptroller for Kano State Command while Gwama Muhammad, promoted as a comptroller, now heads the Idi-Iroko Border Command.

“Similarly, ACG Abdullahi Usman is now the Head of the Division of Regular Migration at the Service Headquarters while ACG BN Alawode becomes the Head of Welfare and Gender and ACC EC Esedo is the Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘D’ in Minna,” the statement reads in part.

Meanwhile, others who have been moved include the Passport Control Officer at the Passport Office in Ikoyi, Lagos, Abolupe Bewaji, who is billed to resume at the Service Headquarters, and MA Ushie of the Document Fraud Unit has been moved to the Diplomatic and Official Passport Division, among others.

“The Comptroller General, Isah Idris, enjoins all the officers deployed to continue to avail the Service their rich experiences in their new Commands and Formations in order to improve service delivery and national security,” the statement said.

Anti-corruption team

Meanwhile, the comptroller general has pledged his support to the newly inaugurated anti-corruption team of the agency, saying he was committed to fighting the menace to standstill.

Idris, who said every necessary effort shall be made to frontally combat all forms of sharp practices across commands and formations in the Service, stated this recently at the induction ceremony of newly nominated personnel into the NIS Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the Service in Abuja.

He said, “I need not over-emphasise the fact that corruption remains one of the main plagues threatening the growth and survival of our country. It has continued to take its toll on virtually all areas of our national endeavours. In some instances, corrupt practices are becoming part of the acceptable societal norms. This is dangerous and must be resisted by all persons of goodwill.

“I must inform you that your assignment as members of ACTU may not be easy because corruption and indeed corrupt persons will always fight back but I assure you of regular support from management to enable you to make a meaningful impact.”

Idris commended the efforts of the ICPC leadership for what he described as the robust relationship and collaboration between the two agencies and called for its sustenance.

Also speaking during the inauguration, the ICPC chairman, Bolaji Owasoneye, commended the NIS for the effort to join in the fight against corrupt and poor service delivery practices.

Owasanoye, who was represented by an official of the agency, Abbia Udofia, enjoined the nominees to understand the enormous responsibilities imposed on them and urged them to “remain exemplary, firm and focussed in the discharge of their duties.”

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The inauguration, according to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of NIS, Mr. Amos Okpu, is aimed at combating frontally the menace of smuggling of migrants by traffickers through proper management of the proceeds of the crime.

Okpu said the agency derived the power to inaugurate the management board from Section 97 of the Immigration Act, 2015.

He said the law “provides for the establishment of the Objects of Smuggling of Migrants Trust Fund into which all proceeds of the sale of assets and properties of migrants’ smugglers shall be paid.”

He added that the law also provided that the management board of the trust fund shall comprise representatives from the NIS, ministries of interior, health, finance, and women affairs and social development.

Others, according to him, were the representatives of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), among others.

Apart from the Comptroller General of Immigration, Isah Idris, who was inaugurated as the chairman of the board, the secretary was also drawn from the agency with a Comptroller of Immigration Service, Adetunji-Oyewo, appointed.

Representing the Interior Ministry on the board is a Deputy Director in charge of Immigration, Atinuke Ajiboye, while Benjamin Okwesa, Deputy Director, represents the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Also, a Deputy Director at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Gabriel Madaki, and an Assistant Director from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, Adamu Mohammed, among others, were appointed into the board.

Meanwhile, the spokesman said the inauguration of the board represented a significant milestone in the agency’s determination to “not only combat persons engaged in migrant smuggling but also ensure that victims rescued from migrants’ smugglers are rehabilitated to continue with their lives.”

Speaking shortly after inaugurating the board, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by a Director in the ministry, Peter Obodo, hailed the development and called on members to get down to work to frontally combat what he described as the disturbing activities of smugglers of migrants.

He noted that thenceforth, migrants’ smugglers would no longer have it as business as usual.

Earlier in his speech, the chairman of the board and Comptroller General of Immigration, Mr Idris, said: “The activities of migrants’ smugglers have assumed unacceptable proportions and therefore every necessary effort should be put in place to checkmate them.

“The event we are having today is one of such efforts we consider important to make a strong statement about our readiness to give migrants smugglers a good fight”.

Idris reiterated that the task of the board was tough and enormous, adding that it would require huge investment of time, courage and experiences by members to make good successes in the fight against migrant smuggling.

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