“We Are Working With Our Neighbours To Reopen Land Borders” – VP Osinbajo Assures Nigerians

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government is working towards reopening all the various land borders in the country.

Osinbajo gave the assurance while speaking during a recent webinar organised by The Africa, themed ‘Bouncing back: Nigeria’s post-pandemic recovery plan’,

The vice president who restated that the closure of land borders by President Muhammadu Buhari is to check smuggling goods and arms into the country, said the government was working with neighbouring countries on the terms of reopening the border.

“We are working with our neighbours to see on what terms we would reopen those borders. At the moment, we are undertaking joint border patrols to control smuggling along the borders and we think it is working and I am sure that soon enough we should have the borders opened,” he said.

“We are committed to the AfCFTA but we are concerned about threats to security and the economy and we had to take certain actions that would satisfy the immediate needs of our country. It (border closure) certainly wasn’t meant to be permanent and we are looking forward to reopening as quickly as possible.”

KanyiDaily recalls that President Buhari had in October 2019 ordered the closure of the borders to check the menace of smuggling goods and arms and ammunition into the country and protect local businesses.

Countries like Benin Republic and Ghana had appealed to President Buhari to reconsider the closure, but Buhari maintained that the borders would remain closed until the final report of the committee set up on the matter was considered.