In 2024, the Federal Government deported 828 undocumented immigrants as part of its efforts to tackle irregular migration and improve national security. Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Olu shared these updates during a media briefing in Abuja, noting that 137 trafficking victims were also intercepted over the past year. Additionally, the government is modernizing border operations and immigration systems as part of its reform initiatives.
The initiatives include integrating Nigerian passports into the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory for global verification and establishing a centralized Visa Approval Centre in Abuja to improve visa processing. Additionally, a massive 8.3-petabyte data center, the largest in Nigeria, has been built alongside a solar-powered infrastructure for uninterrupted operations. A command and control center has also been established to monitor all land and air entry points in real time, enhancing surveillance capabilities.
The minister announced that in 2023, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) resolved a backlog of 200,000 passport applications in just three weeks and issued 1,836,533 passports in 2024.