By Grace Abe
The National Boundary Commission (NBC) has raised the alarm that Africa’s borders are facing a dangerous convergence of terrorism, banditry, smuggling and irregular migration.
NBC Director-General, Mr Adamu Adaji, gave the warning at the 2026 International Conference of the African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE) in Lagos.
The conference, held from Aug. 24 to Aug. 28, focused on “The Connected Borderlands, Socio-Cultural Integration, and the Centrality of Policy, Research, and Security.”
A statement on the D-G’s presentation at the event was made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja by Mrs Chinwe Udouwem, NBC’s Head, Information, Press and Public Relations.
According to the statement, Adaji called for stronger collaboration among governments, researchers, border communities and development partners to confront the growing threats.
He described borderlands as strategic spaces for interaction, cooperation and opportunity, but acknowledged that they could also become zones of contestation.
He said emerging threats had made effective border governance more complex, requiring approaches that go beyond physical infrastructure and conventional security measures.
“Effective management of these borders requires not only physical infrastructure and security measures but also informed policies grounded in rigorous research and evidence-based analysis,” he said.
Adaji said border challenges were no longer limited to territorial security, as borders increasingly intersected with trade, migration, identity, citizenship and regional integration.
He stressed the need to balance sovereignty with cooperation and security with legitimate mobility across Africa’s increasingly interconnected borderlands.
According to the statement, discussions at the conference examined boundary delimitation, trans-boundary security threats and maritime governance, with emphasis on terrorism, banditry, arms trafficking and smuggling.
Participants also examined irregular migration and maritime insecurity, highlighting the increasingly interconnected nature of threats confronting African border regions.
The conference was co-hosted by Lagos State University (LASU) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Partnering institutions included the NBC, Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ABORNE is an interdisciplinary network established in 2007 to advance borderlands research across Africa.
The network also promotes policy engagement on international borders, borderlands and trans-boundary issues affecting African societies.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Benson Ezugwu/Rotimi Ijikanmi