President Buhari Says He’s Looking Into Reopening The Land Borders As Soon As Possible

President Muhamadu Buhari on Tuesday said his government is looking into reopening the land borders across the country ‘as soon as possible’,

Buhari, who disclosed this during a meeting with state governors at the state house in Abuja, said that the nation’s land borders was shut since August 2019, in a bid to curb smuggling and stimulate local production.

He said that the governments of the neighbouring countries have now gotten the message. Hence, the border will be reopened as soon as possible.

The president also charged the governors to work more with traditional rulers and community members to improve local intelligence gathering that will aid the work of security agencies.

“In my meeting with State Governors today I explained that the closure of Nigeria’s land borders was partly an attempt to control the smuggling in of weapons & drugs. Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we’re looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible.

“Intelligence-gathering is also very critical to ensuring lasting security in Nigeria. In this regard, everyone has a role to play, in addition to the security agencies: Governors, traditional rulers, community leaders, citizens. We must all work to boost intelligence-gathering,” he said.

This is coming one week after a Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, condemned the continuous closure of some land borders by President Buhari, warning that Nigeria is on the brink of collapse.