BY FRANK MOMODU
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Interior on Monday said investigation has commenced into the fire that gutted the Nigerian Immigration Office (NIS) on Sunday morning.
While reacting to the fire incident in a statement made available to the media, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) condemned the fire incident, stressing that the building was set on fire ‘apparently to conceal evidence of massive corruption’ in the affairs of the agency.
HURIWA Executive Director/National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, raised a number of questions including “why the coincidence between the reported expiration of the tenure of the Comptroller General (CG) of NIS, Mr. Mohammed Babandede and the fire incident?; and “is this a case of sabotage? And if not, why will such a big complex not house 21st-century compliant fire service equipment within the complex?” among others.
Mr. Mohammed Manga, Director of Public Affairs, in the Ministry also in a statement, admitted that the fire which broke out in a part of the NIS Headquarters on Sunday morning was put out by the Nigeria Fire Service (FFS) stationed at the premise.
However, he said it affected the data management centre, especially the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) which enabled the agency to coordinate movement of persons at the borders and upload information on missing and stolen passports to INTERPOL database.
No data was lost as a result of the incident and this will not affect the operation of the agency whatsoever since each border post is also independently connected to INTERPOL.
This incident occurred at a time the data management centre is being transferred to a new ultramodern building. The migration will now be accelerated seamlessly.
NIS has in place an effective protection and security system for its data and operations facilities and will continue to offer quality services to Nigerians and foreigners alike in all areas of its mandate.
In the same vein, the CG, in a press briefing in Abuja, said the technical team of NIS has commenced an investigation into the cause of the fire outbreak at its headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Babandede, listed the affected sections to include the Call Center where about 10,000 calls are received, within and outside Nigeria on passport and visa matters.
Also affected is the Interpol Connectivity where the Service says they have lost connectivity with the airport and 24 locations and the Migration Information and data analysis system, adding that the hard disks have been retrieved by the ICT team.
He assured that the setback would not affect their services as they are working to ensure connectivity, would be restored in about four days.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior Mr. Shuaib Belgore, who spoke on behalf of the Minister, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in his address said all the systems are backed up, and no data was lost.
He said he is delighted at the prompt response that was given to the incident, and all hands are on deck to ensure transparency in the investigation process.