News
FG to cancel Visa-on-Arrival policy, introduce landing, exit cards
The Federal Government has announced plans to cancel its Visa-on-Arrival policy and introduce landing and exit cards, which prospective visitors will pre-fill before coming into the country.
The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced this on Friday in Abuja during the closing ceremony of a weeklong capacity building training organised for personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
The training was on Advanced Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record API/PNR Data in National Security and Law Enforcement.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FG had in 2020 unveiled the Visa-on-Arrival policy, a class of short-stay visa issued at the point of entry.
However, Tunji-Ojo had on assumption of office in 2023 said that the Visa-on-Arrival Policy would, henceforth, be based on reciprocity.
This visa is often given to frequently travelled high networth investors and intending visitors who may not be able to obtain visas in their countries of residence due to the absence of Nigerian missions or embassies in those countries
The minister of interior, however, said that the API/PNR was not optional, recalling that the system was not in place when he was made minister.
According to him, what the API, PNR gives is objectivity in decision making, objective profiling, not subjective profiling.
He added that what existed previously was subjective.
“Today, we have heard and we have sorted the API across all of our five international airports.
“We think that what we need to do is for us to be able to expand the capability of this in an adaptive manner to allow other border posts.
“The visa system that is one of the core, because I always tell people the visa is not just an approval of entry, it is a migration management device.
“It is a security device to manage migration into your country. So the way it is at the moment is very subjective.
“We are not really too objective and that is why we are automating the whole process end-to-end.
“And the e-visa solution, we are working hard to be able to meet the March 1st or peradventure if we are unable, April 1st, we will hit it live,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo said that the system would be automated, adding that people would apply online and the service would do what it needed to do.
He said: “That solution will be integrated with the Interpol System, the criminal records system, so that we can be able to take decisions.
“We do not want foreign attachés approving and issuing visas. It is not going to be that way anymore, we want to be able to screen people more.
“Nigeria cannot be a destination for wanted criminals in the world. Nigeria is not a safe haven for any criminal and it will never be.
“Another thing we are trying to do even for our expatriates is to see how we can integrate all these our immigration solutions.
“What we are doing is to harmonise all these solutions in our data centre, harmonise the database and be able to let the solutions speak to one another rather than having solutions in silos.
“We want to have integrated solutions. So what we are looking at is that, for any decision that borders on immigration into Nigeria.
“It will be impossible for approvals to be given without the clearance of interpol, criminal records system and all background checking agencies in real time.
“Security is not a sector where you can afford to be 99.9 per cent correct. You just have to be 100 per cent. We believe that it is better for us to take decisions based on objectivity rather than subjectivity.
“And of course, that will lead to the cancellation of the visa-on-arrival process because the visa-on-arrival we understand is not a system that works, because I don’t expect you to just come into my country without me knowing that you are coming into my country.
“No, it is never done anywhere and of course, we are also introducing what we call the landing and exit card.
“We do it now, but it is manual. We are not going to be doing that anymore. This is 2025. This is not 1825. So technology must take its place,” he said.
Speaking further, Tunji-Ojo said that people must fill the landing card which would be integrated with the visa solution, the passport solution, and to all background checking systems across the world before a visitor comes.
According to him, the ministry will be able to share this data with other agencies and across the world, to sanitise the process.
He said, “A scenario where it is difficult for NIS, on the tip of a finger, to tell me the number of foreigners who are entering into Nigeria is unacceptable.
“A scenario where somebody comes into Nigeria, disappears and becomes untraceable is unacceptable. A scenario where there is abuse of immigration policies and processes is unacceptable.
“A scenario where somebody needs to come to Nigeria, stay for six months, waiting to regularise their residency in Nigeria is unacceptable. It is not done anywhere in the world.
“So, we are going to bring these massive reforms and these reforms start between March 1 and April 1.
“Why we are trying to do these is to be able to safeguard our people, it’s for us to be responsible in the comity of nations, and for us to be able to contribute our fair quota to international peace,” he maintained.
Earlier, the NIS Comptroller-General, Mrs Kemi Nandap, said that the programme originated from discussions held with the United Nations Organisation on Counter Terrorism in Bangkok, Thailand in 2024.
“We recognise the need to fully maximise the administration’s investments in this project, and so we must engage in a lot of capacity building.
“We have successfully trained over 100 officers drawn from critical areas,” she said.
Nandap said the service had a crop of well-trained and patriotic personnel who were ready to give their best to the country. (NAN)
Kogi State has been thrown into mourning as former Governor of the state, Ibrahim Idris, fondly called Ibro, has reportedly died in the United Kingdom at 77.
Sources broke the sad news on Sunday, with details of his passing still sketchy as of press time.
Though details regarding the latest development are still sketchy, family sources said Idris had suffered protracted illness.
Meanwhile, incumbent Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has condoled with the former governor’s family.
In his condolence message, Ododo described the late lawmaker as a man who had made meaningful contributions in politics and business.
The governor also recalled his last meeting with the ex-governor in March 2024 during a visit involving political stakeholders from Omala Local Government Area.
Ibro was not just a governor. He was an institution.
From businessman to political colossus, Idris stormed Kogi politics in 2003 when he floored incumbent Abubakar Audu to emerge governor on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
What followed was a turbulent, dramatic reign.
His 2007 re-election was nullified by the courts after Audu was excluded from the ballot. The Court of Appeal in February 2008 ordered a fresh election. Idris fought back and won the March 2008 re-run, holding on to power until January 2012 when he handed over to Captain Idris Wada.
Born in Idah in 1949, Idris built his name in business before politics — founder of Ibro Trading Company, with tentacles in construction, furniture and hospitality.
He built a furniture factory in Sokoto and Ibro Hotel, reputed to be the first three-star hotel in old Sokoto State.
Fate tested him in 2006 when three of his daughters miraculously survived the ill-fated ADC Airlines Flight 53 crash that killed 96 others. A grateful Ibro called it a “superlative show of mercy” from God.
But tragedy never left him far.
In April 2024, he buried his son, Mohammed Ibrahim Idris, former member of the House of Representatives for Ankpa/Olamaboro/Omala, who died in Abuja shortly after Eid-el-Fitr prayers.
… Records major drug seizures across eight states, FCT
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted more than 1.3 million pills and capsules of tramadol and other opioids, as well as 6,000kg of cannabis, in a series of operations across eight states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The agency said the seizures had a combined street value of more than N3.4 billion.
The operations were conducted in Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe and Imo states, as well as the FCT.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the various commands for what he described as professionalism and intelligence-driven operations, urging them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
A major highlight of the operations was the interception of 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 603.75kg and valued at N1.811 billion.
The operation also led to the arrest of a 49-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Innocent Ekpe, who allegedly impersonated a senior police officer to evade scrutiny at checkpoints while transporting illicit drugs across state lines.
Ekpe was arrested on Wednesday, September 16, along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba, Delta State, with 292.48kg of skunk concealed in his silver Toyota Sienna bus.
According to the agency, preliminary investigation revealed that Ekpe allegedly presented himself as Godwin Emeka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, using a forged police identification card.
A 39-year-old alleged accomplice, Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided a location along Agbor Road, Benin City, where they arrested 45-year-old Matthew Ossai.
The agency said Ossai allegedly used his auto-repair workshop to store illicit drugs.
Operatives recovered 48kg of Canadian Loud, 152 grammes of methamphetamine and a metal box allegedly used to store the substances.
At the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives placed a 40-foot container shipped from Montreal, Canada, under surveillance after it arrived on September 12.
A joint physical examination conducted with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Wednesday, September 16, led to the discovery of 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg.
The consignment was concealed inside 31 black jumbo bags loaded into two Toyota Sienna vehicles in the container.
In Niger State, three suspects — Bashir Usman, 20; Abubakar Nuhu, 18; and Abdulrahman Abdulwahab, 18 — were arrested on Tuesday, September 15, during a patrol along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway at Chachi, Tafa Local Government Area.
The suspects were allegedly found with two locally fabricated AK-47 rifles and a magazine, a locally made pistol with a magazine, and nine rounds of 9mm ammunition concealed in a black travel bag.
Two other suspects, Aminu Isyaku, 23, and Jamilu Habibu, 25, were arrested on Friday, September 18, along the Abaji-Abuja Highway.
The agency said more than 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets were recovered from them.
The substances were allegedly concealed in eight sacks and were being transported from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested Onyeka Ofor at his residence in Aguda, Surulere, on Friday, September 18, with 48,900 pills of tramadol 225mg.
Seven cartons of cannabis sativa weighing 59kg were also intercepted at a logistics company in the state, leading to the arrest of a suspect identified as Luke Ugokwe.
In another operation in Lagos, 43-year-old Ibrahim Hudu was arrested at Apongbo on Thursday, September 17, with 998.38kg of nitrous oxide gas.
In Gombe State, a total of 154,480 capsules of tramadol were recovered from two suspects, Sabi’u Umar, 27, and Hassana Muhammad, 19.
The suspects were arrested at the Barunde area and Gombe Main Market respectively on Friday, September 18.
In Imo State, 25-year-old Ifesinachi Godwin was arrested along the Owerri-Onitsha Road on Friday with 43.85kg of skunk.
Similarly, four suspects — Blessing Effiong, Saviour Peter, David Friday Sunday and Ability Peter Sunday — were arrested during a raid on a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu Forest, Ondo State, on Tuesday, September 15.
The NDLEA said 5,000kg of skunk was destroyed during the operation, while 48kg of dried and fresh cannabis was recovered from the location.
Meanwhile, commands and formations of the agency continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation campaigns across the country during the week.
The activities included enlightenment lectures for students and staff of St. Ferdinand School, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; Unizik Secondary School, Awka, Anambra State; Scholars Nursery and Primary School, Epe, Lagos State; and Government Technical Training School, Jalingo, Taraba State.
The Delta Ports Command also paid a WADA advocacy visit to traditional ruler, King Couple Mackson Oromoni Mobene III, Pere Ama-Okosu of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Delta State.
The NDLEA said the sensitisation activities were part of its continued efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of illicit drug use and trafficking.
A woman identified as Bilkisu Sani has been arrested in Rogo Local Government Area of Kano State over the alleged killing of her husband, Hafisu Gausu, amid reported plans by the deceased to marry another woman.
According to reports, the incident occurred around 7pm on Friday, September 18, 2026, in the Katsalle area of Rogo town.
A resident, Auwal Kazagi Rogo, said residents rushed to the scene after hearing cries from Bilkisu, who reportedly claimed that her husband had been kidnapped and killed.
Kazagi said residents who arrived at the scene found Gausu with an injury to his head. He explained that contrary to the initial claim that the deceased had been slaughtered, residents allegedly found that he had been struck with an object.
He said the police were immediately contacted and subsequently evacuated the body for investigation.
According to the resident, Gausu had reportedly been planning to marry another woman as his second wife, a decision that allegedly led to repeated disagreements between him and Bilkisu.
Kazagi said the woman had allegedly vowed to prevent the marriage, prompting community elders to intervene in an attempt to resolve the dispute. However, tensions reportedly continued.
The police subsequently arrested Bilkisu as the prime suspect, while investigations into the circumstances surrounding Gausu’s death remain ongoing.
The deceased was buried on Saturday morning in Rogo in accordance with Islamic rites.
Reports indicate that Gausu and Bilkisu had been married for nearly seven years and had two children. Bilkisu is also reportedly pregnant for the deceased.
Sources in the community further claimed that Gausu had asked his prospective bride’s family to bring forward the wedding date by two months because of the reported disagreement with his wife.
The police have yet to conclude their investigation into the incident, and the allegations against Bilkisu remain subject to the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent court proceedings.
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