President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that he closed off the Nigerian border because of the hard drugs and arms intercepted from food products sent into the country. He said that that was his reason for closing off the border.
He said this while speaking at the UK Investment Summit 2020 held in London with the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and reiterated that he cannot keep quiet while youths are being destroyed with cheap hard drugs or even compromise security with the number of intercepted arms at the border.
“When most of the vehicles carrying rice and other food products through our land borders are intercepted, you find cheap hard drugs, and small arms, under the food products. This has terrible consequences for any country,” President Buhari said.
He said it was regrettable that the partial border closure was having a “negative economic impact on our neighbours,” but added that “we cannot leave our country, particularly the youths, endangered.”
The President said the Sahel region was awash with small arms, which accounts for severe security challenges in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria.
“We are in fact the biggest victims,” he lamented.
On time frame for reopening the borders, President Buhari said it would not happen till the final report of a committee set up on the matter was submitted and considered.
“We will get things sorted out. Our farmers, especially those who grow rice, now have a market and are happy, and we are also concerned about hard drugs and weapons. Once the committee comes up with its recommendations, we will sit and consider them,” the President said.
President Akufo-Addo, while showing an understanding of the need for Nigeria to protect her citizens, pleaded for “an expedited process, because the Nigerian market is significant for certain categories of business people in Ghana.”
