Abuja, Nigeria – The federal government of Nigeria has announced that it now has the technological and operational capacity to identify and apprehend foreign nationals who remain in the country beyond the validity of their visas.
Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this known on Thursday, March 5, 2026, during the 2026 Sectoral Performance Review Retreat of the Federal Ministry of Interior held in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. The Ministry of Interior oversees immigration, internal security, civil defence, and correctional services in Africa’s most populous country.
Speaking at the event, the minister said the government has developed a data-driven system that allows authorities to review records of everyone who has entered Nigeria within the past 10 years. According to him, officials can now determine who has complied with visa regulations and who has overstayed.
He said, “In NIS, I know we are doing a lot already. As of today, we have been able to build our Integrated Operations Centre and the Network Operations Centre, which we never had before.
“With that, we can access, in the last 10 years, everybody who has entered, where you came from, everything, we have all your records, we have everything, we know the exact people who have overstayed in our country, and we will go after them, with due respect, because, outside of Nigeria, they go after the irregular immigrants and we think we have to protect the sanctity of our borders,” the minister stated.”
The minister explained that the new capability follows the establishment of an Integrated Operations Centre and a Network Operations Centre by the Nigeria Immigration Service, the federal agency responsible for managing the country’s borders and migration system. These centres consolidate entry and exit data, enabling authorities to track movements and identify visa violations more effectively.
Okay News reports that the move forms part of broader efforts by the Nigerian government to strengthen border management, improve national security, and enforce immigration laws in line with international standards. The minister indicated that Nigeria expects its immigration rules to be respected just as other countries enforce their own regulations against irregular migrants.
Beyond immigration enforcement, Tunji-Ojo also called for reforms across agencies under the ministry’s supervision, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, a paramilitary agency tasked with protecting critical infrastructure and providing security support services.
He said, “NSCDC provides protection in an organised and corruption-free manner, where the son of a nobody will have the same opportunity as the son of anybody in government.
“If you are a businessman or there is a genuine threat to your life, you should be able to access protection without going through the minister, the Commandant General, or anyone else. It is only then that we can truly say we have a service that works for Nigerians.
“Nigeria should not be about selective service delivery. The essence of government is to protect everyone, with greater emphasis on protecting the weakest in society, ” he said.
On correctional services, the minister emphasised the importance of rehabilitation within Nigeria’s custodial centres. He said repeat offending indicates that the system has failed in its reform objectives.
“Anybody who goes in there must be reformed and transformed,” he said, adding that the objective was to reduce cases of repeat offences to the barest minimum.
Also speaking at the retreat, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Interior, Magdalene Ajani, underscored the need for accountability in public service. She described leadership as being rooted in “devotion, promises, performance, and impact,” and stressed that agencies under the ministry influence the daily lives of Nigerians and must operate transparently.
The renewed focus on visa compliance comes amid wider reforms aimed at modernising Nigeria’s immigration systems and tightening enforcement mechanisms. Authorities say the enhanced tracking capability will allow immigration officials to monitor the length of stay of visitors more accurately and take appropriate action where necessary.
