TheCable

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it has introduced a security document as part of efforts to tackle human trafficking.

According to NAN, Ibiemo Cookey, NIS spokesperson in Bayelsa, said this in a statement on Thursday.

Cookey said the document was introduced amid concerns raised over the increased rate at which young people obtained the ECOWAS travel certificate in Bayelsa, instead of the passport.

The ECOWAS travel certificate was introduced in 2006 as part of measures to facilitate improved travel relations among member countries.

Cookey said the new method adopted by traffickers is to enable them to escape rigorous security inspections at borders while travelling to any of the ECOWAS member states.

He said the NIS, after conducting risk analysis, age review, travel purposes, and frequently visited countries by certificate holders, asked the document issuance unit of ECOWAS to introduce a new security requirement — the ‘Suspicious Travel Interrogation Form’.

He said the security document will form part of the requirements for persons interested in travelling from Nigeria to any of the ECOWAS states.

The Bayelsa NIS spokesperson said the security measure has had positive impact as some persons have been rescued from being trafficked.

“It has helped in rescuing two victims by denying them the facility and denying several others without genuine reasons for travels, after due diligence interrogation,” he said.

“The Bayelsa command will not rest on its oars, until the syndicates are exposed and the only well justified, authentic trips without any link to Trafficking in Persons (TIPs) or Smuggling of Migrants (SOM) are established through the use of our interrogative process and vital intelligence tools to fight the menace.”