Comptroller-General, Immigration officers to undergo drugs test

THE Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Muhammad Babandede has said that all officers and men of the service are mandated to undergo drugs tests to ascertain their mental alertness while on duty.

This is just as he said “the first stage will not be Infinitum, it will be findings, and I will start with myself. That is why I said that the drug test starts with me. I will be the first person to do the test, others will follow.”

He made the assertion on Saturday, during the passing-out parade of the 3rd Conversion Course of 509 graduands at the Immigration Training School, Kano, said the drug-test will for, both senior and junior officers, including himself.

His words: “It is not only that we are Nigerians, but we have also been empowered with weapons to protect our country and territorial borders. If we don’t have a strategy to remove the syndrome of drug abuse from our officers, it will be very dangerous for us.

“I hope all other law enforcement will do the same. You cannot give arms to people who take drugs. So, the best thing you can do is to start checking the situation.”

“When we found you to have drugs in your blood, we will rehabilitate you, we will guide you on how to stop it. We will conduct another test, and I assure you by the time when we do three tests if the person is not changing, it means, that person cannot work with us.

“If in the first test we carry out and we find out that you have high blood in you, we cannot give you weapons. You cannot have contact with weapons at all—this is very important in terms of national security because the government buys arms for us and we cannot use the same arms against our people—that is fundamental.

“You know, President Muhammadu Buhari just inaugurated a Committee on drug abuse. We are Nigerians. Every immigration officer is a Nigerian. We are around 28, 000 immigration officers who are all Nigerians.”

Speaking further, he said the Presidential Committee on drug abuse has already done enough homework, adding that, “the research on drug abuse in the country has already taken place. President Buhari has set up a Committee under Buba Marwa, with the Office of the First Lady, the wife of Mr President, and the findings were very clear. The drug issue is a big issue in our country, especially in the North.

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“So, we must do something very urgently to stop it as the Immigration Service because we are part of Nigeria, and we are Nigerians. All law enforcement agencies are part of Nigerians, so we are also part of the problem, we must try to stop it.”

Babandede who identified drug addiction as a serious problem revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari is aware of the drugs test initiative, and warned officers and men that, “if you are taking drugs, try and desist from it because it might endanger your career at the end of the day.”

He told the graduands that, “as you depart here, it is important to inform you that you are coming into an IT-driven service that puts a high premium on digitisation, systems automation and professionalism. I know most of you are familiar with the technology building we are constructing at the service headquarters.

“It is a paperless office complex and it will be a hub of Information Communication Technology in the country. Therefore, you need to reinvent yourself and upgrade your skills sets to be relevant in the NIS of today as the era of godfatherism and lobbying has gone for good.”

The Comptroller-General further underscored the need for training and re-training of officers, adding that, “we have continued to embark on training and retraining exercises for enhanced productivity. All our training institutions have been busy with various forms of training exercises throughout the year.

However, while speaking on the occasion, the Commandant of the Nigeria Immigration Training School, Kano, Mr Ismail Hamid, urged the graduands to shun sharp practices and upheld professionalism.

Hamid then commended the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje; Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II and the good people of Kano State for their support and cooperation, calling on them to sustain the tempo, we need your collective cooperation and support in an effort for the service to attain its greater heights.