The Nigeria Immigration Service has been charged to save Nigeria from the imminent third wave of Covid-19.

It was charged with a statutory responsibility of preventing further spread of the virus.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who gave the charge, said the Service should monitor immigrants coming into the country through land, sea and air borders.

This is as he expressed worry over the fresh cases of the virus recorded in Lagos in the past few days and also the Delta variant confirmed in the country.

The governor made this known when he received the Comptroller of Lagos State Command, Bauchi Aliyu, at the State House, Alausa.

Sanwo-Olu spoke against the background of fresh transmission recorded in the past few days in Lagos and confirmation of highly contagious Delta variant of the virus in the country.

This, the Governor said, would help the Incident Command team to curtail the rate of transmission and manage cases already confirmed.

The Governor’s meeting with the Immigration boss came after Sanwo-Olu raised the alarm over the disappearance of some air passengers, who came into the country via Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos but could not be reached for COVID-19 status monitoring by EKOTELEMED because they supplied wrong contact details.

As the gatekeeper, Sanwo-Olu charged NIS to work with frontline responders stationed at ports of entry across border posts to ensure in-bound travellers adhere to laid down COVID-19 protocols.

The Governor urged the Service to ensure passengers coming into the country were duly monitored and accounted for.

Sanwo-Olu accepted the Comptroller’s proposal for the mop-up of irregular migrants in Lagos, noting that such operations would help improve security in the State and aid the Government to identify non-Nigerians working illegally in Lagos.

The Governor promised continued support and collaboration with the Service in order to make the State safe for investment and living.

Bauchi praised Sanwo-Olu for the State Government’s support for the Service, pledging that the Immigration was ready to partner with the current administration in improving the State’s mega city status.

The Comptroller also submitted a letter requesting the Governor’s support on logistics and operations.