Nigerian politicians accuse foreigners of contributing to the many security challenges in the country. As a result, the government of Nigeria securitised foreigners’ immigration to justify its policy of land border closure in 2019, which it claimed was aimed at mitigating the security problems bedevilling Nigeria. This study analyses how Nigeria’s national security is impacted by the securitisation of border governance and migration. Relying on the securitisation theory and qualitative methods based on focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and desk reviews of existing literature, it found that the securitisation of migration to establish strict border governance represents the interests of the political elite who have failed to address security challenges in Nigeria. The study concludes that government should de-securitise foreigners’ immigration by addressing underlying domestic and external factors driving insecurity in Nigeria.

尼日利亚政界人士指责外国人加剧了该国的许多安全挑战。因此，尼日利亚政府将外国人移民安全化，以证明其 2019 年关闭陆地边境政策的合理性，并声称该政策旨在缓解困扰尼日利亚的安全问题。本研究分析了尼日利亚的国家安全如何受到边境治理和移民安全化的影响。依靠安全化理论和基于焦点小组讨论、关键人物访谈和现有文献案头审查的定性方法，发现通过移民安全化建立严格的边境治理代表了未能解决安全问题的政治精英的利益。尼日利亚面临的挑战。该研究的结论是，政府应通过解决导致尼日利亚不安全的潜在国内外因素来消除外国人移民的安全性。