Governments urged to act fast on SOM increase

Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, Kaduna Command, Jerry Adah (Standing) addressing participants at the opening of the workshop. Seated (from Left) are: Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Lawal Muslimu Mohammed, CSI Usman Awachi and Assistant comptroller of Immigration, Sirajo Jaafar

KADUNA –  Governments at all levels and relevant agencies in Nigeria  have been urged  to act urgently to stem the growing incidence of smuggling of migrants in the country.

In a communiqué issued at a three-day European Union-funded workshop on Smuggling of Migrants (SOM) organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)  which ended in Kaduna on November 1, participants observed that smuggling of migrants is not abating in Nigeria and is constituting threat to national security, economy and socio-political sanity and well-being of the country.

Unfortunately, the participants observed, there is lack of synergy between the agencies coordinating migration management in the country and the media. They therefore called  for effective collaboration with the media to ensure a successful  campaign against SOM.

The participants  also noted that the rise on SOM is due to “improper and ineffectual information dissemination and citizen education.”  To this end, they urged media organizations to establish Migration Desks for effective reportage of migration and related issues.

Also, they suggested the issuance of official travel documents to journalists covering migration to facilitate the ease of effective reportage and coverage of migration.

The communique further  recommended that the NIS and Foreign Affairs Ministry should develop effective and dynamic ways of engaging the diaspora communities to mitigate SOM.