Buhari may re-open land borders soon –Presidency

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that the land borders which have  been closed since August 2019 will soon be opened.In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, and titled “President Buhari charges governors to work with traditional rulers for local intelligence,” the President stated that the land borders may soon be opened.

The statement was issued after the President met behind closed doors with the nation’s 36 state governors on the security challenges across the country.

He explained that the closure of the nation’s land borders was partly an attempt to control the smuggling of weapons and drugs.

The presidency issued a statement quoting Buhari as asking the state governors to work more with traditional rulers and community members to improve local intelligence gathering that will aid the work of security agencies.

“Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible,” the President said.

Shehu said the President, who listened to presentations by the  governors from each of the six geo-political zones on their specific security challenges, recalled that in the old order, communities identified newcomers and passed information to constituted authority.

Recall that land borders across the nation was closed down since August, 2019.

Stakeholders across the country have called for the reopening of the land borders, saying it is crippling the economy of the country.

In preparation for the take off of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in March, 2021, economic experts have said failure to open the border would have negative economic effects on the country.