SAN FRANCISCO, September 18, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives, Wednesday, charged its relevant committees to establish the veracity of the porosity of the nation’s borders and insecurity there and come up with appropriate recommendations to address the lingering problem.
The lawmakers particularly noted that the porous borders encourage smuggling into the country.
This was sequel to a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. James Abiodun Faleke (APC, Lagos), on the impact of border routes on the nation’s security system.
Leading debate on the motion, Faleke recalled that both the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and National Boundaries Commission (NBC) had told the Interior Minister, Abba Moro, that there are 1,487 active illegal routes to Nigeria other than the 84 identified regular borders.
He noted that the ugly development is coming at a time the nation is battling with insecurity challenges, noting that the illegal routes would pose further security challenges to the Federal Government.
Lamenting that NIS is yet to respond positively to the astonishing discovery of the illegal routes, Faleke urged the Federal Government to pay serious attention to the problem and find a lasting solution to it.
In his contribution, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta), said the porous borders have negative effects on the economy of the nation.
“There is also the security implication because people of other countries will take advantage of the situation to spy on our country,” he added.
But Hon. Friday Itula (PDP, Edo), observed that the problem with the borders is rather that of the inadequate security personnel rather than the illegal borders themselves.
“There are 27,000 security personnel manning the borders, and this figure is inadequate to take care of the porous borders,” he observed.
The lawmakers therefore resolved to mandate the committees on Interior and Public Safety and National Security to interface with NIS, State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) to establish the true situation of the illegal borders.
Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, who presided over the session, consequently referred the matter to the relevant House committees for further legislative inputs.
By Saint Mugaga, Abuja
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