FG Installs 30 Secs e-Gates In International Airports

To further boost the security architecture of the country and reduce check-in time for international travellers, the federal government has installed a thirty seconds E-gates in all the international airports across the country.

The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubumi Tunji-Ojo made this known during an inspection tour of the biometric equipment installed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja and the Command and Control Centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters.

The Minister who was conducted round the facilities by the Comptroller of Immigration in charge of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, Mohammed Adamu said the thirty seconds E-gates would make work easier for the immigration personnel at the airport as it will screen and clear a passenger within a space of thirty seconds without interface with Nigeria Immigration personnel.

” We have decided that the more the gates, the easier it will be for the passengers to be cleared, and looking at the ones that have been tested, it takes about 30 seconds for a passenger to be cleared so I look at the solutions and the hardware and I think they are top-notch”.

Dr Olubumi Tunji-Ojo noted that the facilities when fully operational would be a game changer for effective management of international passengers.

According to the Minister, Lagos would get seventeen E-gates, Abuja ten, Kano five while Port Harcourt and Enugu Airports would get four E-gates each.

He said the facilities would be ready before the end of March this year.

Dr Olubumi Tunji-Ojo while inspecting the command and control center at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration in Abuja said the facilities had been integrated not just for seamless entry and exit for passengers but to add another layer to the security architecture of the country.

” The efficiency of the Services provided by the NIS determines whatever we see in our security outlook as a nation, all these are being done in line with global best practices and standards and in consonance with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu to provide quality services to Nigerians”.

The minister who was impressed with the level of work by the Nigeria Immigration Service expressed optimism that the projects when completed would put an end to illegal migration in the country.

” The facilities are about 70% ready, this means our border control management is in track, it also means that the Nigeria Immigration Service is ready to contribute it’s quota to the National Security Architecture” the Minister said.

Nkiru Njemanze, Edited By Grace Namiji