The Benefits E-Gate At Nigerian Airports Revealed

The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, says Nigerians returning from foreign countries will soon enjoy their arrivals at the nation’s airports with the introduction of e-gate.

E-gate is an electronic gate — just like a scanner—that has all the modern facilities required to scan passengers who just came into the country via the airports easily and faster without the usual delay.

The minister made the promise on Monday while inspecting the Nigeria Immigration Service’s (NIS) ongoing installation of an e-gate (scanner) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

He said the era of unnecessary delays for passengers who come into the country due to manual scanning by immigration officers would be a thing of the past by the time the project came to fruition.

Tunji-Ojo recalled that the Federal Government had promised Nigerians that upon their arrival in the country, they would enjoy a seamless passage at the airports through e-gate, unlike in the past.

“So, I came to inspect the ongoing e-gate project, and I am happy with the progress of work being done so far; eight e-gates are to be installed at the Abuja airport.

“But I told them that eight would not be acceptable to me and that they have to increase it by two to make it 10.

“So far, they have succeeded in installing some, and from the assurances given by the contractor, the remaining ones will be delivered before the end of the month, to make it 10 in all.”

The minister explained that the greater the number of e-gates, the shorter the waiting period for passengers.

“You know, the more the e-gate, the easier it will be for passengers to be cleared. Looking at the one that had been tested, I learned that it takes about 30 seconds to clear an individual.

“This, I believe, is a record time anywhere in the world; and having looked at the solutions and the hardware, it is unarguably one of the best.’’

Tunji-Ojo said that with what he saw on ground, he had no doubt that, when completed, Nigerians would no longer be at the mercy of NIS officers or anybody else when they arrived in Nigeria.

“This is a fact, because, as you can see, it is a matter of putting in your passport, and it scans it, opens the gate, reads your facials, your biometrics; it will capture you; and then you leave.

“You do not need to have an encounter with any immigration officer.

“But again, unless you are a person of interest, I must always say that because this whole purpose is not just for you to be able to pass at record time.

“No, it is not just for that; it is to also secure the country by so doing.”

The minister explained further that for the country to also add another layer to its national security architecture, it should be able to have about two or three licence verifications.

This, he said, would enable the appropriate authority to easily flag anybody or a passenger who happened to be a person of interest or on the watch list.

He added that by the time the project came on stream, it would go a long way towards supporting NIS officers and enabling them to effectively do their jobs.

“By the time the project comes to fruition, it will be a new story and another milestone in the annals of the country and NIS.

“The project is not just in Abuja; we are looking at delivering about 16 in Lagos, 8 in the D-WING, and 8 in the E-WING.

“As well as one in the private wing in Lagos to make it 17 in total; about five in Kano,  four in Enugu, and four in Port Harcourt.”

Tunji-Ojo explained that what he believed was that people must not come through Abuja for them to enjoy the services.

More so, the minister inspected another ongoing project, the Advanced Passengers Information System (APIS), at the NIS headquarters.

APIS is a device that enables NIS officials to access anybody’s biodata at least two hours before the person or passenger enters the country.

Tunji-Ojo expressed delight with the level of work done so far, adding that the project was more than 70 per cent ready as the equipment was on the ground, including the servers.

“My joy is that the contractor has given me his word that in the next three weeks, it will be 100 per cent ready.

“So, it means that the E-NIS project, the border control management, which is the automation of border control systems, is on course, and Nigerians are about to have new experience.

“And above all, NIS is ready to contribute its quota to the national security architecture. As I always say, NIS is an integral part of national security.

“And as a security organisation, the efficiency of the service goes a long way towards determining how secure the country will be; that is why it has decided to adopt technology and automate its operations,’’ he said. (NAN)