Federal Government has instituted a Joint Security Patrol in Katsina state along Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic to check smuggling and influx of illegal immigrants.

According to government, the action was aimed at preventing smuggling and illegal migration through the borders.

Minister of Interior, retired Lieutenant General Abdurrahman Dambazau, said this known when he paid a courtesy call on Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State in Katsina.

Dambazau, who spoke through Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Bello Tambuwal, said government was also contemplating air border patrol, and fencing sensitive parts of the borders in the long run, all in efforts to check smuggling and illegal migration.

He revealed that the patrol base would be sited on Jibia road, and be manned by a joint team of officers from the Nigeria Immigration Service, the army, Nigeria Customs Service, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Dambazau said the Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic covers more than 1,000 kilometers crossing some states of the federation, saying there was a long history of trading and inter-communal relations between Nigerians and Nigeriens particularly those residing along the border communities.

The minister pointed out that the ties made the borders to become porous and difficult to monitor, resulting in the influx of contrabands and illegal migrants that have aggravated insecurity in Nigeria.

In his remarks, Governor Masari commended the initiative saying that the joint border patrol would go along way in curbing human trafficking that has been going on along the Nigeria-Niger Republic border.

Masari who spoke through his Deputy, Mannir Yakubu, said the joint border patrol would also complement the state government efforts at combating cattle rustling along the same borders.