The Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Lagos State Command, Aliyu Akadri, has warned criminals attempting to flee the country that there is no hiding place for them.
Akadri issued the warning during a courtesy visit to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr Olohundare Jimoh, on Tuesday at the command headquarters in Ikeja.
He noted that the Federal Government has equipped the NIS with advanced surveillance tools to monitor movements across the country’s borders.
“Once we get an order from the court that a criminal is wanted or a person is being sought, we remain on high alert,” Akadri said.
“The government has assisted us in so many ways by making our job very easy, there is no way a criminal can sneak out of the country now that we have acquired some new security gadgets.
“Any criminal that plans to flee the country should better have a rethink because he/she will surely be apprehended, even If they take an illegal route, ” he said.
The immigration boss said that his purpose for the visit is to strengthen collaboration in crime fighting and intelligence gathering.
“It is important that police and immigration synergised for security of Lagos state and the country at large.
“The purpose of our visit is to consolidate, collaborate, synergise, and transform the relationship between the police and the NIS.
“If there is any intelligence report we gathered, we can easily send it to the police and vice versa, ” he said.
The comptroller said that no agency could do the job of security alone without collaboration.
“With the security situation in Nigeria, no agency must be underated, all security agencies are one, we are all working for the same goal which is to protect Nigeria, ” he said.
Responding, the commissioner assured the NIS boss that the meeting would further strengthen the existing collaboration between the immigration and police in their joint security efforts.
“The NIS’s visit to my office is a testimony of a cordial relationship we have been enjoying over the years.
“I want to assure you that we are going to strengthen this cooperation to achieve maximum productivity for the nation.
“On a daily basis, we do a lot of things in common to ensure that we are serving the same nation.
“We should continue to be on the same page to work together in a collaborative manner, ” the commissioner said.
According to him, co-ordination between the two agencies will take centre stage to ensure that people of Lagos and visitors alike enjoy the best security cooperation between the agencies.
