President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that the government has set to reopen the borders as soon as possible.
The closure, was aimed at stemming flows of smuggled goods such as rice and tomatoes, effectively severed trade with neighboring Benin, Niger and Cameroon only months after Nigeria signed the landmark African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
Nigeria’s President in a tweet late Wednesday bactracks on why the border was initially closed and blamed it on an attempt to control the smuggling in of weapons and drugs.
“In my meeting with State Governors today I explained that the closure of Nigeria’s land borders was partly an attempt to control the smuggling in of weapons & drugs. Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbors,we’re looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible.”
In August 2019, the government shut down all land borders in the county, citing that the country needed to stop the struggling of drugs, small arms and agricultural products, especially rice.
However, in late November, the federal government announced that it is considering reopening the border after a Presidential committee that was set up to look at the border closure recommended reopening.
