‘Nigerian govt not done with border closures; January 2020 only end of phase one’

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Sunday denied that the closure of Nigeria’s borders will end on January 31, 2020 as contained in a leaked memo.

According to the NCS, January 31, 2020 is only the end of the first phase of the operation and not the terminal date of the entire border closure.

The Public Relations Officer, NCS, Mr Joseph Attah, stated this in an interview with newsmen on Sunday.

Attah explained that the borders would remain closed indefinitely until the objectives of the government for the operation had been fully achieved.

Read also: Gov Ortom alleges another round of attacks by herdsmen in Benue, fingers Miyetti Allah

He said: “This is not the terminal date; it’s just for this phase. You know operations of this type are in phases. January 31, 2020 is the end of this phase. The exercise will continue until the set objectives are achieved.”

The Customs spokesman explained further that security officers on the field would be notified of further development about the second phase of the border closure before January 31.

It would be recalled that the Comptroller General, NCS, Hameed Ali, had declared that the borders would remain closed until Nigeria’s neighbours decide to respect ECOWAS protocol concerning trade within the subregion.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now