FG uncovers 1,497 illegal border routes

THE Federal Government has identified a total number of 84 legitimate and legal routes through which people could come or go out of Nigeria, while about 1,497 illegal routes that entered the country had also been uncovered.

Determined to put an end to the unending insurgency in the country, the Federal Government has, therefore, approached the United States of America (USA) to assist in addressing the problems of the nation’s porous borders.

Minister of Interior, Mr Abba Moro, dropped the hint in Abuja, on Thursday, while presenting the score card of his ministry to the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the media.

He said the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) would erect control tolls and border plazas at all the identified legal routes for proper monitoring, with massive deployment of electronic surveillance equipment to the borders.

Moro revealed that consultation was on going with the Department of State of the US to assist with the deployment of modern technology equipment to the borders, to address the problems, which had allowed all manners of people to come into the country at will.

According to him, “we have been discussing with a Chinese private company to provide the needed modern security equipment for our borders and the proposal was to cost $244 million before we approached the Department of State of the US for assistance. We are going to harmonise that of the Chinese with that of the US to meet our needs.”

He assured that when the arrangement became operational, the insurgency in the country would be history, as all the nation’s borders would have been properly manned and secured.

On the alleged employment racketeering in some organisations under the ministry and non-payment of monthly salaries to some categories of staff of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) since last year, Moro said appropriate steps had been taken to ensure that officials of the ministry and its agencies adhered to rules and regulation of recruitment of staff, which had been ignored in the past.

The minister said the ministry was set to recruit new hands into the service, adding that the procedures for the recruitment exercise would be made public today.

He also disclosed that efforts were being made to pay the arrears of the categories of staff of the NSCDC, as he attributed the delay to a shortfall of about N940 million from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Responding, the national chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, commended the minister for the various achievements of the ministry in recent time, adding that they were in line with the transformation agenda of the PDP-led administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Source: Tribune