Nigeria’s surveillance upgrade leads to arrests of international fugitives at airports.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has disclosed that wanted criminals on the Interpol red list were recently arrested at Nigerian airports. He said the arrests were made possible by improved surveillance and intelligence infrastructure at the country’s border points.
Tunji-Ojo made the revelation on Tuesday at a regional workshop on “Maritime Border Security in the Context of Counter Terrorism in the Gulf of Guinea,” held in Lagos.
“Now, it will interest you that a couple of weeks ago, within two days, a lot of people on the Interpol and red list were arrested at our airports,” he said. “One came from Italy, one came from Ireland, the other one, I think, from a couple of countries.”
He noted that Nigeria now has an Advanced Passenger Information (API) system which allows immigration officers to pre-profile passengers.
“We’ve queried you, we know where you’re coming from,” he said, adding that this development aligns with international security obligations.