16 Months After, President Buhari Orders Immediate Reopening Of Seme Border, Three Others

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate reopening of four land borders in the country.

The Presidency made the disclosure via its verified Twitter handle on Wednesday.

The four borders to be reopened include Seme in Lagos, Illela in Sokoto, Maigatari in Jigawa and Mfun in Cross River

“President @MBuhari has directed the immediate opening of four land borders: Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfun,” the Presidency wrote.

Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, who spoke at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, disclosed that the President also directed that other land borders that were shut should be reopened from December 31, 2020.

“I am here to just report that His Excellency, the President approved the recommendations of the committee that I chaired with the Minister of Trade and Investment as member, Minister of Interior as member, Minister of Foreign Affairs as member, National Security Adviser as member and Comptroller General of Customs,” said Zainab.

This committee was mandated to review and advise on the reopening of the Nigerian borders and after recommendations, the president approved the reopening of four land borders, namely: Seme in the South-west part of the country, Ilela in the North-west part of the country, Maitagari in the North-west part of the country and Mfun in the South-south part of the country.

“So, these four land land borders will be reopened immediately while the remaining borders are directed to be reopened on or before 31st of December, 2020. Mr. President has also directed on the reopening of the borders that while others are being reopened, the ban on importation of rice, poultry and other banned products still subsists and will be implemented by border patrol team.”

The Federal Government had shut the land borders nationwide in August 2019 to prevent smuggling of arms and illicit products into Nigeria from neighbouring West African countries.