Focus on plans for special identity cards for foreigners

Plans to issue special identity cards to foreigners living in Nigeria by President Olusegun Obasanjo's government,underscore new perceptions of threats to national security that have emerged in the country since the 11 September attacks in the United States. Minister of State for Internal Affairs Mohammed Shata, who announced this decision at a recent meeting with zonal and state controllers of immigration, said there was an urgent need to control the influx of foreigners into the country. The introduction of special identity cards for foreigners, he said, was "an additional measure in improving the security of the country in view of the political and economic implications of uncontrolled movement of aliens in Nigeria". He added that a detailed analysis of problems associated with foreigners was being undertaken and would be sent soon to the government for review. Nigeria so far does not have an outstanding record of terrorist incidents. One incident that comes easily to mind is the November 1993 hijack of an Abuja-bound Nigeria Airways flight by a group named Movement for the Advancement of Democracy, with the uncomplimentary acronym, MAD. Led by one Jerry Yusuf, the group's main demand was for the revalidation of presidential elections held earlier in the year which had been annulled by the military. The unhappy flight eventually terminated in Niamey, the capital of Nigeria's northern neighbour, Niger, where the plane was stormed by security agents, the hijackers arrested and the passengers freed. All the hijackers, it turned out, were Nigerians. But in the light of recent developments around the world, the Nigerian authorities appear convinced that the country could be vulnerable to, even if not yet a target of a terrorist network. Possible targets are thought to include the U.S. and Israeli embassies, as well as other Western diplomatic missions. Also considered deserving of extra security cover are the installations of Western oil companies in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta oil region. With Nigeria among the top suppliers of crude oil to the United States, disrupting the supply lines could be considered a legitimate target by its enemies. According to state security officials, key factors in reassessing likely security threats to Nigeria include its unique position as Africa's most populous country of some 120 million people, almost evenly split between Muslims and non-Muslims. Many security officials believe some foreign countries are somehow involved in fuelling the recent spate of religious violence that have erupted in different parts of the country. Another factor is that Nigeria is the sixth biggest producer of crude oil in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and has very extensive land borders covering Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. "Besides, Kenya and Tanzania, two African countries where U.S. embassies were targeted by terrorists, are not too different in terms of characteristics with Nigeria," a senior security official told IRIN. "If it could happen in East Africa, then surely it could happen here as well." The security authorities became further convinced of Nigeria's vulnerability after it transpired that one of the suspects, who acted as a prosecution witness in the trials in New York for the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania,actually gave himself up to the U.S. embassy in Nigeria. "If he had come into Nigeria with terrorist intentions, he could have acted before anyone knew what his mission was; there might still be other cell members operating in the country," the security source said. According to local media reports, 10 foreigners were turned back in July alone at the country's entry points over doubts about their intentions in coming to Nigeria. In August, two Afghans were stopped at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, and held for two weeks when they could not convince immigration and other security officials that they had legitimate reasons for seeking to enter the country. Subsequently they were deported back to their point of embarkation, India. Late in September, six foreigners, including five Indians and a German, who had stayed in Nigeria for between seven months and two years were deported over activities the authorities considered questionable. Since the terrorist attack in the U.S., the Obasanjo government has declared a security alert, placing citizens from a list of 12 countries resident in Nigeria under surveillance. They include Afghanistan, Algeria, Chad, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lybia, Pakistan and Sudan. A useful instrument in the new security campaign has been a joint border patrol force established by Nigeria and Benin Republic early this year for the purpose of fighting cross border crime. (Similar joint patrols are being negotiated with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.) Last week five Pakistanis suspected of having terrorist links were arrested by the joint patrol as they crossed the border from Benin into Nigeria. The arrest brought to 16 the number of Pakistanis arrested for questioning in Nigeria in two weeks on suspicions that they might have dealings with terrorists. Police spokesman, Haz Iwendi, said the focus on Pakistanis is largely because of the relations the country has had with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. "And it is not only Pakistanis that our focus is on," he told journalists. "We are also focusing on Afghans, Iranians and Iraqis visiting the country during this period."