Immigration Policy and National Security in Nigeria: A Policy Review

This study reviews Nigeria's immigration policy framework from a national security perspective, examining whether existing laws, institutional arrangements, and enforcement practices adequately address contemporary cross-border security threats including irregular migration, human trafficking, and the movement of arms and terrorist personnel across Nigeria's porous borders. Nigeria's extensive land borders with Benin, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon create significant immigration governance challenges, with inadequate resources and weak institutional capacity limiting effective border management. Using a documentary research design, the study analyses the Immigration Act, the National Border Security Programme, the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and reports from the Nigeria Immigration Service, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, and relevant United Nations agencies. The national security theory and the securitisation framework are applied to evaluate the intersection of migration governance and security policy. Findings reveal that Nigeria's immigration policy suffers from a fundamental tension between facilitating legitimate cross-border movement for trade and social purposes in the ECOWAS free movement zone and managing the security risks associated with irregular border crossings. Institutional fragmentation across multiple agencies with overlapping border mandates reduces operational effectiveness and creates accountability gaps. The study identifies the North East and North West geopolitical zones as areas of particular concern, given their extensive and under-resourced borders with conflict-affected states. Recommendations include unified border management command, biometric border infrastructure investment, and comprehensive human trafficking prevention programmes. Keywords: immigration policy, national security, border management, Nigeria, irregular migration