Nigerian govt reviewing Buhari’s reason for some border closures – New Customs CG, Adeniyi

The acting comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Wale Adeniyi, said some land borders remain shut, but a review is ongoing to determine the purpose of their closure.

Adeniyi stated that currently, only six land borders have been reopened since President Muhammadu Buhari shut all the land borders in August 2019.

He disclosed this on Tuesday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Villa, adding that the six reopened are strategic borders.

“Well, it is not true that all Nigerian borders have been opened. The status quo ante still exists in the borders. If you remember that the borders were completely shut down in 2018 up until 2022 when some selected strategic borders were reopened, that is still the situation as we speak.”

“And this was why we had an ad hoc arrangement of a special unit coordinated by the office of the NSA (national security adviser) to enforce that border closure. But as we speak, about five of them have been reopened.

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“Four were initially reopened and two more were opened after that. And that is still the situation. There are ongoing processes to review this situation against the objective of the border closure itself.

“And the processes are not yet completed. And of course, when the borders are reopened, it’s not going to be subject of rumour in any way.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria and the Republic of Benin are set to partner on enhancing border security and regional integration according to Adeniyi.

He revealed that Nigeria’s customs will send representatives to Benin to discuss how to address border security concerns, “The aim of the visit is to foster collaboration, address border security concerns, facilitate importation across the border, and explore technological solutions to complex border challenges,” Adeniyi added.

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