Covid-19: NIS poised for Emergency service

Chinazor Megbolu

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has said the agency is poised to attend to customers on emergency services over Covid-19 pandemic.

The agency stated this on Friday noting it’s a means of following the Federal Government order on lockdown over Covid-19 pandemic spread in the country.

The public Relations Officer, NIS, Deputy Comptroller, Sunday James in a signed document on behalf of the Comptroller General, NIS, Muhammad Babandede, MFR, explained the workforce at the land, air and sea border frontiers and hinterland offices are set to effect the lock-down order as directed by the federal government.

To make it achievable, the NIS released its contact lines and advised members of the public to use them as avenues of contacts for inquiries and emergency services instead of visiting the NIS offices during the lockdown period.

The statement further hinted that the officers had been stationed to react to emergency services through the mobile lines.

He, however, pointed out that NIS would help to control measures as regards the Federal Government directives on restriction of International Flights into and out of the country and other land border closure to mitigate against human mobility that aids the spread of the Covid-19 from person to person.

James also posited the federal government order was put in place to contain the increasing the vulnerability ratio, adding that the restrictions on human mobility will control human to human contact.

He maintained that the measures would also help to reduce either in vehicles used on roads along the borderlines, passengers on-board aircrafts that transverse nation-states either on direct, transit or chartered flights with high risk due to the number on flights and from different countries travelling to different destinations.

“Also those by sea travels in numbers on board ships some on direct and others indirect voyage on the sea anchoring at different locations before getting to the final destination or transit country, passengers are in confinement in the ship for a more longer period than the vehicles on land and air crafts that travels within hours.

“The ships take months from the country of origin to the transit and destination country thereby increasing vulnerability among travellers with corresponding risk to the people at the destination country.

“All the heads of NIS formations that have entry and exit points in the form of Land and Sea borders and the Airports to check human mobility through the various entry and exit points, with the internal lockdown the land lock states that have no borders are to work hand in hand with state governments to ensure compliance alongside with other Security and Response Agencies to control inter-state travellers from spreading the disease among the citizens,” James said.

Moreover, he averred the agency is putting efforts to reduce person to person contact in its service windows at the airports, passport offices and other operational offices respectively.

The mobile links are the following as released by NIS 07080607900, 08119753844, 08147199908.

Editing by ‘Biodun Soyele