National Identity: Immigration rallies stakeholders against cyber threats

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: In a decisive determination to fortify Nigeria’s defenses against rising cyber threats, the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS has called for stronger collaboration among sister agencies, exertion experts and improvement partners to support the nation’s integer individuality systems, migration information and captious information infrastructure.

Comptroller General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, gave the complaint connected Thursday astatine the motorboat of the 2025 Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign of the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS, themed “Securing Our World: Building a Cyber-Ready Nigeria Immigration Service.”

Declaring the run unfastened connected behalf of the Comptroller General of Immigration, the Deputy Comptroller General successful complaint of Works and Logistics, A.J. Umanah, warned that cybercrime has evolved into a nationalist information menace susceptible of undermining governance, economical stability, and nationalist trust.

“The emergence of cyber threats successful caller years has shown that cybersecurity is not conscionable a method concern. It is simply a nationalist information issue, an economical priority, and a motivation work to support the spot of citizens,” she said.

Umanah said the planetary escalation of cyber attacks targeting individuality and migration information has made it imperative for Nigeria to physique a cyber-ready migration service, susceptible of defending its integer assets and the idiosyncratic accusation of millions of citizens.

She noted that the Immigration Service sits astatine the bosom of Nigeria’s nationalist individuality absorption and borderline information system, handling immense databases of personal, biometric and question information.

“Our databases clasp captious accusation connected the movement, individuality and statehood of millions of people. A azygous breach could person far-reaching consequences for nationalist security, planetary relations, and national trust,” Umanah cautioned.

The DCG observed that with the digitization of halfway operations specified arsenic the e-Passport, e-Visa, and e-Border Management platforms, cybersecurity has go cardinal to Nigeria’s sovereignty and borderline integrity.

She said the Service’s strategical instauration of an ICT and Cybersecurity Directorate, led by DCG Augusta Obianunu, has strengthened organization readiness and placed integer defence astatine the bosom of migration management.

While commending the Service’s integer transformation, Umanah stressed that exertion unsocial cannot warrant safety, insisting that the quality origin remains the astir effectual enactment of defense.

“Every officer, careless of fertile oregon post, is simply a imaginable gatekeeper, oregon a anemic link, successful the concatenation of security. Integrity successful the integer domain is arsenic important arsenic integrity astatine the borderline post,” she said.

She urged each formations of the NIS to mainstream cybersecurity consciousness into their regular operations, interior audits, and unit briefings, portion enforcing compliance with information extortion policies and liable integer conduct.

“Let this seminar not beryllium a regular event, but a turning point. Cybersecurity is nary longer an ICT issue; it is simply a corporate operational mandate,” she added.

The NIS, according to Umanah, is implementing a five-point strategical program to execute a cyber-resilient system. These see strengthening interior cybersecurity governance and compliance mechanisms; gathering capableness done continuous ICT and operational training; deepening inter-agency collaboration, particularly with the defence and information sectors; investing successful unafraid integer infrastructure that meets planetary standards; and, institutionalizing information extortion and privateness compliance successful enactment with nationalist and planetary frameworks.

Umanah emphasized that cyber threats bash not respect geographic oregon organization boundaries, calling for a agreed beforehand crossed government, academia and the backstage sector.

“Together, we are gathering not conscionable a smarter country, but a safer one,” she declared.

Earlier successful her remarks, DCG Augusta Obanime, caput of the ICT and Cybersecurity Directorate, said the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks demands a civilization of changeless vigi...