The Federal Government has said that it is studying activities at four of the nation’s land borders which were reopened last week and may close them again if there is any “trouble”.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, who made this known on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme monitored by our correspondent, regretted that the government might be considering shutting down the borders because the country’s neighbours had not cooperated with the country to curtail the influx of bandits and small weapons which he claimed are fueling the insecurity in Nigeria.
The Federal Government had on December 16 ordered the immediate reopening of the Seme Border in Lagos State, Illela Border in Sokoto State, Maigatari Border in Jigawa State, and Mfun Border in Cross River State, which were closed in August 2019 to curtail illegal importation of drugs, small arms and agricultural products into the country from neighbouring West African nations.
But the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced last Wednesday after a Federal Executive Council meeting that the presidential committee set up on the matter had completed its job and had recommended the reopening of the borders.
The minister also said the President approved the immediate reopening of the four borders while other borders would be reopened hopefully before December 31, 2020.
However speaking on Tuesday, Shehu lamented that insecurity in Nigeria had increased following the lack of cooperation from Nigeria’s neighbour.