Nigeria reopens land borders after 2 years

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate reopening of the nation’s land borders after about two years of closure.

The Presidency made this known in a tweet on Wednesday.

The tweet reads “President Buhari has directed the immediate opening of four land borders: Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfun,”

Nigeria’s land borders were completely closed in August 2019 after months of partial closure to curtail illegal importation of drugs, small arms and agricultural products into country from neighbouring West African nations.

Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed had hinted earlier that the borders will be reopened, noting that the president would determine the exact date.

The opening of the borders can also be linked with Nigeria’s confirmation of its membership of the African free-trade zone which would be launched in January next year, after initial reluctance to join the bloc for fear of exposing local industries to dumping by countries outside Africa.