The Nigeria Immigration Service NIS has blocked about 14 persons of interest who had been flagged internationally, and prevented them from entering into the country.

Interior minister, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo disclosed this on Friday at the Service?s headquarters in Abuja when he unveiled the NIS Career Progression and Training Policy Framework CPTF and Gender Mainstreaming Policy.

Both documents deal with career plan, e-learning and gender mainstreaming.

The framework was sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development ICMPD under the Modernizing Nigeria Immigration Service MoNIS project.

The minister who commended the Comptroller General of Immigration Service CGIS, Kemi Nandap, for leading the service to greater heights, said the state must always be ahead of criminals in order to avoid anarchy.

While he did not give details of the 14 persons who were nabbed, the minister said the feat was made possible through the recently launched Advanced Passenger Information API system.

He said; ? The state must be ahead of criminals, not behind. Otherwise there will be anarchy.

?Today, if you go to the Command and Control Centre you will see what is happening. The people who are working there are doing shifts of 8 hours each day and they are NIS personnel. No external hands. They have been doing a fantastic job. Just yesterday, I got a report about some persons of interest that were nabbed. About 14 of them. Weeks ago, these people would have just entered quietly into Nigeria without us knowing but today because we have the Advanced Passenger Information API system, we can view people?s records, pre-profile them before they come. In a space of two days, about six or such persons were prevented from coming in and these are people flagged internationally. The new NIS is business unusual.

?Finally we are beginning to institutionalize change as I believe in long-term solutions to long term problems. Irregular migration is a long-term problem. MoNIS is not an option but a necessity?.

Earlier, the CGIS, Kemi Nandap said the NIS personnel are most valuable resources and the two policy documents that were unveiled, speak directly to the efficient management of personnel.

She said; ?The CPTF will provide guidance for training activities and career progression in the Service forthwith. Training and retraining will entrench professionalism and the Service core values into the daily routine of officers and men of the Service. As a result, the importance placed on the Entrepreneur as one of the factors of production makes this project apt to the Service. It will help empower our personnel to drive reforms and policies in a more pragmatic manner that will build a formidable institution to drive the Service mandate.

?While adequate manpower and planned Staffing enhances any organization?s growth and competencies, the Service is again positioned to ensure that the recruitment processes are rigorous and transparent to employ the right candidates. The CPTF would guide the Service in conducting such recruitment exercises.

?Furthermore, the NIS Gender Policy would help ensure the mainstreaming of Gender considerations into the core operations of the Service, creating an environment that allows both genders to thrive and contribute their quota to excellent service delivery.

?This document is not new to me. As a former co-chair of the Technical Working Committee while serving as Assistant Comptroller-General in Charge of Migration Management Directorate, I am privy to the knowledge that about 55 Courses were developed for NIS training institutions to help fill identified skill gaps in our operations. Very recently, I have been briefed that work is ongoing to integrate these courses to the NIS Learning Management System donated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). All of these efforts are geared to ensure that training is career progression-based and made available to all officers of the Service no matter their location. (Vanguard)

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