Nigeria’s land border with neighbouring countries to remain closed until 2020 as the government intensifies what is een as a radical move, to check smuggling of goods into the populous African nation.
Though unilateral border closures go against all commercial and freedom of movement treaties signed under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nigeria has justified its decision.
It has directed affected traders to use the country’s ports where authorities can easily monitor goods coming into and going out of the country.
“Nobody stops goods coming in from the ports” Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Olufemi Abikoye told Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey on Tuesday in Accra ahead of a closed-door meeting on the matter.
According to Mr Abikoye, a joint taskforce set up by the Nigerian government has within a month made a major bust of goods, including ammunition, which were being smuggled into the country.
“With just one month of this partial temporarily closure of the border, the taskforce was able to seize over 1,00 smuggled cars, over 5,000 jerry can of petroleum products, over 20,000 bags foreign rice, thousands of ammunition,” he stated.
Read more at: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Nigeria-borders-to-remain-closed-until-2020-despite-protests-789286#
