The Nigeria Immigration Service has allayed the fears that the country’s land borders can serve as unchecked entry points for the Ebola virus currently ravaging the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
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The NIS insisted that every border crossing in Nigeria was manned and that the service had deployed digital surveillance infrastructure to monitor routes that personnel alone could not cover.
The service’s spokesperson, Akinsola Akinlabi, gave the assurance on Friday in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, as concerns continue to mount over the country’s vulnerability to the Ebola outbreak.
Akinlabi said, “Our borders are not porous. Anyone who comes in through our borders is known. They must show proper documents, including an international health certificate.
“Our job is to man the borders and ensure that people who shouldn’t be in the country are not allowed into the country.”
Nigeria’s border measures over 4,000 kilometres of shared land with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, where there has been reported cases of informal crossing points that lie beyond official posts.
But Akinlabi dismissed the characterisation of the country’s land borders as porous, saying the personnel manning the borders were also aided by technology in hard-to-reach areas.
“For us, a porous border is one that is not manned. All our borders are manned. For us, it is not a question of the porosity of borders, it is how expansive our borders are and what things the government has done to address those challenges,” he said.
On the technology front, Akinlabi disclosed that the government had invested in key systems to strengthen surveillance.
He said, “Part of the things the government has done is to introduce our Integrated Border Management System and our Migration Information and Data Analysis System.
“Apart from having boots on the ground, the government has invested in technology so that we are able to monitor the border more efficiently.
“With the expansiveness of our borders, we are using technology to close that gap, monitor and police the border in a way that it is secured, and essentially the country.”
The NIS spokesperson also cited the country’s pandemic response in past episodes of disease outbreaks, noting that health ministry officials had previously been deployed to airports during outbreak emergencies.
“The last time we had a pandemic, the officials of the Ministry of Health were at the airport. Measures will be deployed by the concerned authorities,” he said.
On what specific steps the NIS itself was taking in response to the current outbreak, Akinlabi said the service was deferring to the lead of health agencies.
“Normally, we will wait for the advisory from the NCDC and the health ministry in this case. So, we are waiting for the agencies involved to tell us the threat level that we face.
“We will listen for their lead. As the Immigration Service, we are ever ready to do our part to ensure that our borders are secured,” he stated.
On May 17, 2026, the World Health Organisation declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern after the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola killed nearly 90 people in DRC and spread to neighbouring Uganda.
The current Ebola outbreak was first flagged on May 5, 2026, when the WHO was alerted to a high-mortality outbreak of unknown illness in Mongbwalu Health Zone in Ituri Province, northeastern DRC, including deaths among health workers.
Laboratory analysis on May 15 confirmed the cause as Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola for which there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment.
As of May 19, authorities had reported 536 suspected cases, 105 probable cases, 34 confirmed cases and 134 deaths.
The case fatality rate in past Bundibugyo outbreaks has ranged between 30 and 50 per cent.
The outbreak began in Mongwalu, a busy mining area, from which infected people subsequently travelled to other locations, sought treatment elsewhere and spread the disease.
The virus has since reached DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, and two confirmed cases including one death have been recorded in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said Nigeria has not recorded any confirmed case of Ebola virus disease associated with the current regional outbreak.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, in a statement on Wednesday, said it had intensified health and safety protocols at all international airports in collaboration with relevant health agencies.
It said passengers arriving from high-risk regions currently undergoing screening for Ebola symptoms and any suspected case will be immediately isolated for further medical evaluation.
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