The Federal government has reacted over seizures made by security agents at the country land borders, saying that our neighbouring countries like Niger and Benin republic are yet to address the issues that led to closure of the border from the first place.
The Minister for information and Culture Mr. Lai Mohammed disclosed this when he lead a federal government delegation to Seme border on Monday.
The minister was reacting to the magnitude of goods seized at the border and the numbers of illegal immigrant apprehended in the last two weeks, saying, it is evident that the two neighbouring countries are practically not doing anything to resolve the challenge incurred from the border closure.
Nigerian government had in August 2019 closed its land borders against neighbouring countries over unabated smuggling activities that have continued to dwindle the country’s revenue.
Subsequently, the federal government went ahead to list five conditions that will warrant its opening on November 4th.
One of the conditions the Federal government gave was Nigeria would not accept imported goods repackaged by the neighbouring country and only to find its way into Nigeria.
Meanwhile, during the inter-Ministerial committee on the Temporary partial closure of land border in Abuja, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama , the Minister of Foreign Affairs said the only travel document to be recognised when one is visiting Nigeria is the passport, saying no any form of identity card will be accepted.
The Information Minister disclosed since the closure of the border, “local consumption of fuel had dropped by 30 per cent apparently due to the reduction in smuggling of petroleum products to neighbouring countries.
The reduction in the consumption of the foreign rice is another land mark achievement that has been recorded, the Minister added. An interaction with the producers of the local rice in the country has also indicated that a significant progress has also been recorded, patronage of local rice has increased and this has encouraged farmers to expand their frontiers.
Consequently, “The magnitude of seizures and the number of illegal immigrants recorded in the last two weeks alone indicate that nothing is being done yet by both countries, the Benin and Niger, to address the challenges, the minister revealed.
He also disclosed that as we speak, there are number of ships loaded with rice waiting to be discharged (in Benin) and the target market is Nigeria (for Christmas). We have MV Africana Jacana with 40,000 metric tons of rice, MV Zilos with 20,000 mts and MV Sam Jarguar with 45,000 MTS and others.
