{"id":17510,"date":"2026-11-14T06:45:53","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T06:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/14\/2027-polls-immigration-service-dss-move-to-tighten-borders-against-foreign-interference-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T06:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T06:45:53","slug":"2027-polls-immigration-service-dss-move-to-tighten-borders-against-foreign-interference-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/14\/2027-polls-immigration-service-dss-move-to-tighten-borders-against-foreign-interference-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"2027 Polls: Immigration Service, DSS move to tighten borders against foreign interference – Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Department of State Services (DSS) have pledged to strengthen border surveillance and intelligence sharing to prevent foreigners and irregular migrants from exploiting Nigeria\u2019s borders to interfere in the 2027 general elections.\n<\/p>\n

The agencies said they would intensify collaboration and coordinate security operations before, during and after the elections to prevent the entry of foreign elements seeking to undermine the electoral process.\n<\/p>\n

The commitment was made on Friday at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service in Abuja during the formal flag-off of the 2027 General Elections Sensitisation Programme.\n<\/p>\n

The event was attended by Kemi Nanna Nandap, Comptroller-General of Immigration; Oluwatosin Ajayi, Director-General of the DSS; and representatives of Ahmed Audi, Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and Sylvester Nwakuche, Controller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service.\n<\/p>\n

Speaking at the event, Nandap, represented by Franca Usiwoma Nwanneka, Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Visa and Residency, urged immigration personnel to strengthen vigilance and ensure effective coordination of security operations ahead of the elections.<\/p>\n

She said the preparations for the 2027 general elections required security agencies to provide a peaceful and secure environment for the democratic process, stressing that protecting the country\u2019s borders was critical to achieving this objective.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond the responsibility of conducting credible elections, there is the equally important task of providing a peaceful and secure environment in which the democratic processes can thrive.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving this requires collective vigilance, effective coordination, and the commitment of all institutions entrusted with safeguarding our nation,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

The immigration chief said the service occupied a strategic position in Nigeria\u2019s security architecture because of its responsibility for border security and migration management.\n<\/p>\n

She warned that the agency must remain alert to the influx of foreigners and emerging security threats, including irregular migration, human trafficking, migrant smuggling and other transnational criminal activities capable of undermining national security.<\/p>\n

Nandap said intelligence sharing, effective border surveillance and sustained inter-agency collaboration had become imperative as the country prepared for the elections.\n<\/p>\n

According to her, the complexity of the security challenges confronting Nigeria makes it difficult for any single agency to address them independently, adding that coordinated responses and timely information sharing would strengthen the country\u2019s capacity to contain emerging threats.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNo single agency can address the complex security challenges confronting our nation in this region. Our collective strength lies in our ability to work together, share timely information, and respond decisively to the migrating threats,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

She also warned immigration personnel against aligning with political parties or individuals participating in the elections, insisting that officers must maintain strict political neutrality and professionalism.\n<\/p>\n

Nandap said personnel must uphold discipline and respect for the rule of law, stressing that government resources must not be used to advance partisan interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur officers must demonstrate the highest standards of political neutrality, discipline, and respect for the rule of law. Under no circumstance should our personnel use official resources to promote partisan interests. Our loyalty must remain firmly in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Addressing zonal coordinators, controllers and heads of formations, she urged them to ensure adequate preparations through strengthened surveillance, intelligence gathering, effective deployment of personnel and closer coordination with relevant security agencies.\n<\/p>\n

She also called for more purposeful participation by the service in the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on International Security (ICCES), stressing that its engagements must deliver measurable results.\n<\/p>\n

Nandap said securing the country and sustaining international confidence in its institutions remained a collective responsibility, urging security agencies to work towards an electoral environment where Nigerians could exercise their democratic rights peacefully and without violence.\n<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Ajayi, represented by Patrick Ikenweiwe, Deputy Director-General of the DSS in charge of Operations and Intelligence, said stronger collaboration among security agencies was necessary to protect the country\u2019s borders and electoral process.<\/p>\n

He warned that electoral periods could provide opportunities for foreign elements and other individuals seeking to undermine democratic processes to exploit weaknesses in border controls.\n<\/p>\n

According to him, the movement of mercenaries and other persons with intentions to disrupt elections makes effective migration management and border security particularly important.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the nation prepares for the 2027 General Election, the security of our borders and the integrity of the migration control system will become critical.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cExperts have shown that electoral programmes attract attention to exploit borders for threats, for movement of policing camps, mercenaries, and persons intent on undermining democratic processes,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

Ajayi described the immigration service as the first line of national defence in managing the country\u2019s borders, saying its effectiveness would be indispensable to peaceful elections.<\/p>\n

He said the DSS would deepen its partnership with the NIS through timely intelligence sharing, joint risk assessments and coordinated operations, particularly along land borders and at entry points.\n<\/p>\n

The DSS director-general maintained that no single security agency could independently secure the electoral environment, stressing that effective collaboration remained central to preventing security breaches.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNo single agency can secure the electoral space alone. Our strength lies in absolute synergy,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

He also drew attention to the P-E-R-M-T-I-S framework, identifying effective supervision, accountability and measurable results as important foundations for institutional performance.\n<\/p>\n

Ajayi urged supervisors to lead by example and ensure that personnel upheld political neutrality and professionalism throughout the electoral cycle.<\/p>\n

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Source: <\/p>\n

Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Department of State Services (DSS) have pledged to strengthen border surveillance and intelligence sharing to prevent foreigners and irregular migrants from exploiting Nigeria\u2019s… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}