By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has graduated its first batch of female squad.
Speaking at the passing out parade of the 61 female officers, NIS boss, Isah Idris Jere, said the service is a major stakeholder in the security of the nation.
“Today’s event is another loud statement of intent and our enduring resolve and determination in ensuring the security of our borders and the lives and properties of our people are well guarded Protected.
“The NIS has been a major player in the fight against terrorism, trans-border crimes and other emerging security threats to our beloved country. To further consolidate on the gains we have made over the period, my administration on assumption of office had set out three (3) cardinal areas of focus. These are:
The welfare and well-being of our personnel, capacity building for prompt, effective and efficient service delivery in line with international best practice and ensuring the safety of our vast borders.
“Accordingly, in the bid to realize these objectives as highlighted, the NIS under my watch, has always put the welfare of its personnel on the front burner and has also placed high premium on training and retraining of officers and men as a panacea(for us) to remain abreast of the various security challenges currently facing our nation. We have continuously embarked on training and other capacity building programmes both within and outside of Nigeria in order to broaden our knowledge and prepare our officers to deliver on our mandate.”
Jere added that the event is another innovation which will further enhance the service capacity to effectively deploy personnel to critical areas of national assignment as may be required from time to time.
He said, the 61 officers, all female, have undergone rigorous physical training on weapons Handling, Combat craft, Border security and Counter Terrorism technics in addition to other investigative and intelligence gathering training.
“As you have already seen today, these officers have indeed demonstrated their readiness and capacity to stand toe-to-toe with the male as they go out there to serve our fatherland. May I also inform you, ladies and gentlemen that the service presently has over 1000 personnel undergoing the Pre-basic training programme in Immigration Training School, Kano and the Customs Training School, Goron Dutse, Kano. The essence of this training is to ensure the readiness of our personnel both physically and mentally to not only confront the security challenges in our country, but also to compete favourably with their counterparts the world over in the performance of core Immigration duties.
“At this juncture, let me congratulate the Commandant, NITSA and his directing staff for making history today, the fact that you are the first to train these set of gallant officers, first of its kind in the NIS is no feat, you have done a tremendous job which is worthy of commendation, the management of NIS is indeed proud of your dedication and commitment to duty.”
