Customs Reopen Niger Republic Land Border

The Nigerian Customs Service, Sokoto State command on Thursday opened the land border between Nigerian and Niger Republic in the Illela Local Government Area of the state.

This follows the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who ordered the service and other security agencies to open both the land and air borders as well as immediately suspend all sanctions hitherto imposed on the county through ECOWAS.

Recall that following the military seizure of power and subsequent arrest of the then President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, the leadership of ECOWAS imposed some sanctions on the country which includes the closure of all borders between the members country and the Niger Republic.

A statement signed and made available to newsmen on Thursday by the spokesman of the command, Abdullahi Tsafe Abubakar, said the Comptroller of Customs, Sokoto/Zamfara Command, Kamal Muhammed, announced the official reopening.

“Sequel to the lift of sanctions on Niger Republic by ECOWAS and the subsequent directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the reopening of land and air borders with Niger Republic and lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Kamal Muhammed announced the official opening of Illela Border for free movement of people and commercial activities in compliance to the directive.

“The Comptroller charged MDA’s and security agencies at the border station to give maximum collaboration to each other in the area of trade facilitation, information and intelligence sharing for safe, efficient and effective service delivery at the border.

“He further stated that the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi commended the customs license agents and the Illela community for their patience and cooperation during the seven months border closure”

The statement further said the Comptroller assured the general public of a renewed and better service delivery while calling on them to abide by the import and export extant laws.

Meanwhile, residents of the state especially those within the Illela community have expressed joy over the reopening of the border.

While commending the Federal Government and the Nigerian Customs for the reopening, they further pledged to be law abiding in practicing their legitimate business around the community.

Punch