Arms, ammunition, drugs responsible for border closure, not just foodstuff, Buhari tells Akufo-Addo

President Muhammadu Buhari has explained to his Ghanaian counterpart, President Nana Akufo-Addo, that the partial closure of Nigeria’s borders is not caused solely because food products, particularly rice, were being smuggled into Nigeria, but also because arms and ammunition, as well as hard drugs, were being ferried into Nigeria.

According to a statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), the president made the remark while holding a bilateral meeting Monday in London at the sidelines of UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 with the Ghanaian leader.

Buhari told him that he could not keep his eyes open, and watch youths being destroyed through cheap hard drugs, and compromised security caused by the unbridled influx of small arms.

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“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 “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.”