Thousands of travellers coming to Nigeria from neighbouring West African countries of Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana are still stranded at Seme and Idiroko Borders owing to the Federal Government’s closure of the border.
Some traders from Benin Republic who had come to Nigeria also got stranded at the border.
The travellers, many of whom have been at the borders since yesterday, have been left with no official of the government telling them anything as to why the border was closed.
Some Nigerians, who took to Twitter to lament, said they were not aware of the development, said they got to the border and were refused entry.
An immigration officer who pleaded anonymity confirmed that all land borders across Nigeria are closed which was an order from the federal government.
“It is all borders across Nigeria. It was a presidential order.”
“It might last for the next three days.”
It was also learned that this closure occurred as Nigeria is currently deploying an operation named Border Green for a period of 28 days.
During this mission, the police, immigration, army, customs and intelligence forces will verify the good execution of the injunctions concerning the prohibition of exported goods.
The officials will also focus on the prohibition of fraudulent exit of petroleum products, the fight against the importation of second-hand vehicles, the fight against the importation of rice and certain prohibite products for importation by land.
In Chikanda especially, the borders are closed, including the ones used by pedestrians.
When contacted, Joseph Attah, spokesman of the Nigeria Customs Service, however, said they had issued an alert to inform the public of the closure in order to conduct a border security exercise.
The statement issued on Tuesday, by the Customs read; “As part of measures to secure Nigeria’s land and maritime borders, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and th Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), in collaboration with the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) as well as the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security and intelligence agencies will be conducting a joint border security exercise, codenamed “EX-SWIFT RESPONSE”.
“The joint exercise is being coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and will take place in 4 geopolitical zones, namely; South-South, South-West, North-Central and North-West. It is expected that the exercise will promote interagency cooperation and increase preparedness to address trans-border security challenges such as terrorism, armed banditry, smuggling, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, amongst others.
“The exercise will also involve the movement of personnel, vehicles and equipment within the affected parts of the country. Therefore, we call on members of the public not to panic and should continue to engage in their normal duties. The overall objective is to ensure a peaceful and secured country in the interest of our National Security.”