IMMIGRATION SERVICE WARNS OF RISING CYBER-BASED MIGRANT SMUGGLING AS 2025 ANTI-SMUGGLING WEEK BEGINS
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has raised the alarm over the growing sophistication of migrant smuggling networks, warning that criminal syndicates are increasingly exploiting cyberspace and dangerous transit routes to traffic migrants, exposing them to severe risks including extortion, sexual exploitation, violence and death.
The warning was issued on Monday as the Service formally flagged off the 2025 Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Week at its headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, said organised criminal groups were adapting their operations to digital platforms and remote border routes, creating new layers of danger for migrants, particularly young people seeking better opportunities abroad.
Nandap, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of Works and Logistics, Ada Umanah, said the week-long campaign was designed to raise awareness, strengthen partnerships and renew national commitment to combating migrant smuggling ahead of the International Migrants Day.
According to a statement by the Service Public Relations Officer, Akinsola Akinlabi, the campaign is themed *“Smuggling of Migrants: Emerging Trends, Realities and National Response,”* a focus the Immigration boss described as timely given Nigeria’s security challenges and the evolving global migration landscape.
She noted that the theme reflects the urgent need to confront changing patterns of irregular migration and dismantle criminal networks that prey on vulnerable individuals “in search of hope.”
“The rise in organised migrant smuggling networks, coupled with evolving online tactics and shifting routes, has created unimaginable risks for migrants, especially at desert crossing points, where many are exposed to trafficking, exploitation and even death,” Nandap said.
She stressed that the NIS was not discouraging migration but advocating for safe, orderly and regular movement, adding that the Service had adopted a multi-pronged approach based on prevention, enforcement and international cooperation.
On prevention, Nandap disclosed that the NIS had intensified public enlightenment on the dangers of irregular migration and the deceptive tactics used by smugglers. She said the Service had expanded collaboration with other government agencies, civil society organisations, faith-based groups, market and transport unions, and schools to promote legal migration pathways.
She added that young Nigerians were a major focus of the awareness campaign, revealing that more than 579,000 National Youth Service Corps members had been sensitised nationwide this year alone, alongside outreach programmes in border communities across the country.
On enforcement, the Comptroller-General said immigration officers had been deployed across formations to identify, investigate and prosecute individuals and criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling, warning that penalties under existing laws were severe.
She also linked the NIS response to a broader technology-driven border management strategy under the Ministry of Interior, led by Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
According to her, the Service has enhanced surveillance across land, sea and air borders through the deployment of modern systems, including a central command and control centre, the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), Advanced Passenger Information Systems (APIS), Passenger Name Records (PNR), e-gates at international airports and Huawei-powered e-border solutions at over 144 border locations nationwide.
Nandap emphasised that migrant smuggling is a transnational crime that requires strong international cooperation, listing partnerships with ECOWAS, the African Union, the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other global bodies.
She said these collaborations support data sharing, joint investigations, capacity building, repatriation efforts and safe return programmes, particularly with transit and destination countries.
As the campaign commenced, the Immigration boss reaffirmed the Service’s commitment to strengthening border security and intelligence, dismantling smuggling networks, protecting migrants especially women and children and upholding the dignity and human rights of all migrants, regardless of status.
She added that the fight against migrant smuggling was not the responsibility of government alone, urging families and communities to play active roles in preventing trafficking and irregular migration.
Nandap also thanked development partners and the international community for their technical and capacity-building support, pledging that the NIS would continue to sustain partnerships aimed at promoting safe, orderly and regular migration.
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