NIS, China agree to boost migration, intelligence cooperation

The Nigeria Immigration Service and China’s National Immigration Administration have agreed to strengthen cooperation on migration management, border security and intelligence sharing.

The agreement was reached during a bilateral meeting between the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, and officials of China’s National Immigration Administration in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Sub-Forum on Migration Management Cooperation, which took place from September 8 to 11.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Akinsola Akinlabi, the discussions focused on areas of mutual interest and ways to expand collaboration between the two immigration authorities.

The proposed areas include technical exchanges, information sharing and capacity building to strengthen both countries’ responses to emerging migration and security challenges.

The NIS also used the international forum to highlight Nigeria’s efforts to tackle document fraud and falsification of records.

Akinlabi said the Nigerian delegation participated in a roundtable discussion on combating document fraud and shared measures being implemented by the Service to improve document verification and border security.

He quoted Nandap as reaffirming the NIS commitment to international partnerships, intelligence sharing and technical cooperation in securing Nigeria’s borders and improving migration management.

“The Comptroller General reaffirmed the commitment of the Service to strengthening international partnerships, intelligence sharing, and technical cooperation in promoting secure borders and effective migration management,” Akinlabi said.

The four-day international forum attracted more than 2,000 participants from 139 countries and organisations to discuss ways of improving global cooperation in migration management and tackling emerging transnational challenges.

Akinlabi said Nigeria’s participation provided an opportunity for the NIS to share its experience with other countries while gaining insight into emerging approaches to migration management, document security and border control.

He said the proposed cooperation with the Chinese immigration authorities would further support efforts to develop coordinated responses to migration-related security threats.