Nigeria’s land border with Benin Republic at Seme, near Badagry, Lagos State, has been reopened on Friday.
Human and vehicular movement across the border post have resumed after 16 months of closure.
Officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerians Immigration Service and Port Health Service have resumed checking in and out of travelers.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had earlier said it has complied with the Federal Government’s directive on re-opening of land borders in the country.
This is contained in a statement signed by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr Sunday James and issued to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.
“In compliance with the directive of the Federal Government, the following four land borders have been re-opened”, the statement said.
It listed the borders as Seme in South-West, Illela in the North-West, Maigatari in the North-West and North-East and Mfum, South-South respectively.
It said that the borders were immediately re-opened in the first phase, since the closure of land borders on Aug. 20 2019.
According to the statement, the Comptroller General of NIS had also directed the head of the service formation at these borders posts to comply and remove restrictions of human movement.
It said that the head of the service formation at these borders must avoid unethical practices and unprofessional conducts.
It added that all persons entering or exiting the country must hold a valid travel documents as prescribed in the immigration Act 2015 and to observe COVID-19 protocols.
The service enjoined travellers in the statement to pass through only these four designated authorised borders posts pending the re-opening of others.
Mrs Seweka Avoseh, a Nigerian traveling to Ghana, commended Federal Government for reopening the land borders.
She said that the closure of the country’s land borders had affected her business, urging the government to proffer alternative solutions to cross border crimes.
The Federal Government had on Aug.21, 2019, ordered the closure of the Nigerian borders to curb smuggling of goods and weapons.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday announced the immediate reopening of four land borders after the Federal Executive Council meeting held virtually in Abuja.
“The president has approved the reopening of four land borders, namely– Seme, South-West, Ilela, North West, Maigatari border in the North-West and North-Central and Mfum in the South-South.
“These four land borders will be opened immediately, while the remaining land borders are directed to be reopened on or before Dec. 31,’’ the minister told State House Correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday.
She said that Buhari also directed that while the borders were being reopened, the ban on the importation of rice, poultry and other products still subsisted and would be implemented by the border patrol team.
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