US backs FG on improved border control

United States National Central Bureau has partnered the US Department of State and INTERPOL to dramatically improve Nigeria’s border security screening capacity.

Under the US-funded Project TERMINUS, Nigeria on September 7 became the first African country to implement an automated system for uploading stolen and lost passport documents into the INTERPOL database that can be queried by all 194 member countries.

A statement on Saturday by the Senior Communications Advisor for International Law Enforcement/Spokesperson, US Department of Justice, Nicole Oxman, said the automation of 150,000 stolen and lost passports was made possible by implementing INTERPOL Washington’s SLTD Uploader software solution.

The statement titled, ‘United States assists improved border control in Nigeria,’ stated, “INTERPOL Washington’s Project TERMINUS, funded by the U.S. Department of State, executes solutions to upgrade INTERPOL member nations’ access to INTERPOL information sharing services.

“The goal of Project TERMINUS is to extend INTERPOL’s I-24/7 secure global police communications system in high risk areas and select host nations.”

USNCB Director, Uttam Dhillon, observed that INTERPOL Washington was pleased to continue its partnership with the Department of State to develop and deploy advanced tools and technology to assist its worldwide law enforcement partners in the fight against transnational crime and terrorism.

“By improving border security in Nigeria, we not only improve the safety of Nigerian citizens, we also strengthen the global chain of law enforcement tools linking together INTERPOL’s member countries,” Dhillon said.

He noted that the initiative also helped member countries to meet their United Nations Security Council obligations to prevent the movement of terrorists and terrorist groups by effective border controls, thereby improving international, regional, and sub-regional cooperation through increased sharing of information.

The director further said that the upload of SLTD to the INTERPOL database carried out by the Nigeria Immigration Service culminated more than four months of active collaboration between the USNCB, the State Department, INTERPOL, and the FG.