Army to train Immigration personnel on border patrol, others

The Nigerian Army is to train personnel of the Nigerian Immigration Service on border patrol and other areas to enhance the efficiency of the Service to curtail border crimes.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, gave the assurance on Wednesday when he received the Comptroller-General of the NIS, Mohammed Babandede, at the Army Headquarters, Abuja.
Buratai said both the Army and the NIS had been working toward the same goal of ensuring national security and protecting territorial integrity of the country, hence the need for strong collaboration between the two organisations.
He said the army was ready to train personnel of the NIS at the Command and Staff College in Jaji, Military Police Training School and Nigerian Army School of Legal Studies in Basawa, Kaduna State.
Buratai also said the army already had close working relations with the NIS in some of its operations across the country, especially in the North East.
He said the army was ready to involve the Service in its Forward Operation Bases in Malamfatori, Banki, Gambaru Gala and other border areas.
He urged the NIS to share intelligence with the army in border areas to curtail movement of terrorists and other criminal elements across the nation’s borders.
Earlier, Babandede said his visit was to seek further partnership with the Nigerian Army in areas of manpower development in order to contribute to peace and security.
He said: “Our responsibility to ensure that the right visa is given to the right people is one way to ensure national security and this is why we are seeking collaboration with the Nigerian army.
“In the past, the army used to train our personnel.
“We want this to commence again.
“We need to build our men and the best agency to train us is the military.”