The Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Martin Kure Abeshi has disclosed that the NIS generated N24, 322, 687, 586. 57 billion between January 1st and October 31st 2015 from the issuance of passports and visas within Nigeria and abroad.
Abeshi stated this in Abuja recently when he was briefing the Minister of Interior, Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau on activities and operations of the service.
Giving a breakdown of the generated revenue, Abeshi said;
“A total of N19, 465, 171, 293. 57 billion was generated locally while N4, 857, 516, 293 billion ($24, 657, 443, 11 was generated collectively abroad as revenue generated between January 1st 2015 and October 31st 2015.
“The NIS currently has a total of 29 on-going projects, including construction of state command headquarters, Divisional officers, border control post, Armory and other facilities spread across our formations.”
On the challenges facing the NIS, Abeshi expressed sadness over poor funding especially for capital projects for construction of border control plazas and automation of control posts
He said: “Over the years, the NIS has also been contending with inadequate manpower for effective manning of formations and platforms nationwide, lack of adequate officers accommodation and basic facilities for border patrol officers, flagrant violation of ECOWAS protocol on free movement of persons by ECOWAS nationals
“Improper delineation of borderline encourages unfriendly disposition of border communities to border enforcement officers.”
Abeshi recommended to government the recruitment of at least: “5000 new officers and men annually into the service for the next 5 years to ameliorate our perennial challenges of inadequate manpower.”
At the meeting, Dambazau enjoined the officers and men of the NIS to intensify border patrol to avoid further smuggling of arms and ammunitions into the country.
He also advised them to shun corruption, and warned that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will not spare anyone caught involved in corrupt practices.
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