President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday that Nigeria is looking to reopen its land borders ‘as soon as possible’, over a year after they were closed.
Mr Buhari stated this during a meeting he had with Governors elected on the platform of Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Nigeria shut its land borders in August last year mainly to check smuggling and to stop the importation of agricultural produce like rice.
President Buhari said on Tuesday that the closure of the borders was also an attempt to control the smuggling of weapons and drugs.
According to a statement from Presidential Spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the President said: “Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible,”