The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says the closure of Nigeria’s borders with the Republic of Niger is not a declaration of war between the two countries, as speculated.
The acting Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, made the assertion while addressing the Illela border community of Sokoto State on Friday.
Adeniyi, who was at the Illela border to ascertain the level of compliance, clarified that what is happening in Nigeria is also happening in other states of West Africa that share the border with Niger.
“My mission here is to restate the directives of President Bola Tinubu, being not only the Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but also Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“As we are aware, one of the chairman’s responsibilities is to promote trade between members of ECOWAS. But we all know that trade cannot happen in an environment where there is no peace. So the intention of the government is to ensure that we leverage perfectly on the nexus between trade and security,” he said.