The Federal Government recently revealed that deported 828 illegal immigrants were deported in 2024 as part of its intensified measures to curb irregular migration and strengthen national security.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Olu, disclosed this during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday. He also revealed that 137 victims of trafficking were intercepted within the past year by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
“In the last one year, 137 victims of trafficking were intercepted, and in 2024 alone, 828 foreigners were repatriated by the NIS,” the minister stated.
As part of its efforts to modernise immigration systems, the government recently introduced the integration of Nigerian passports into the International Civil Aviation Organisation Public Key Directory. This reform is reported to allow seamless passport verification across the globe.
Additionally, a centralised Visa Approval Centre has been established in Abuja to facilitate faster visa processing including an 8.3-petabyte data centre, which is reported to be the largest in Nigeria.
Tunji-Olu also announced the establishment of a command and control centre to provide real-time surveillance of all land and air entry points, boosting the nation’s border security measures.
Highlighting achievements in passport processing, the minister noted that the NIS cleared a backlog of 200,000 passport applications within three weeks in 2023 and issued 1,836,533 passports in 2024.