The acting Customs Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, earlier on Sunday, said red alert had been issued to all the officers and personnel manning the borders at Benin Republic, Cameroon, and others, in compliance with the president’s order by President Bola Tinubu. He told the NCS reps at an interactive session: “The closure of the Nigeria-Niger border is 100 percent.”.
The Comptroller General further said that he charged customs operatives manning the borders to be careful and to remain vigilant. He also urged the border patrol agents to remain fierce, not yielding to any terminus that would jeopardise the security of the country.
He said his men are aware that any goods in transit to Niger Republic deserve special attention, and they have been instructed to stop the transit of any commodity destined for Niger Republic through the Nigerian Customs.
Recall that President Tinubu has ordered the closure of land borders between the Niger Republic and Nigeria through ECOWAS as part of an onslaught by the regional bloc against a military junta which sacked democracy in the West African nation.
He explained that closure of the land borders with Benin Republic and parts of Cameroon was aimed at preventing criminals from breaking into or smuggling firearms into Niger through the neighbouring land border.
On 26 July, a military junta overthrew President Mohammed Bazoum and seized power. The junta cut relations with France and Nigeria in the aftermath of the coup.