Reacting to closure of Nigeria/Benin border, the National President of the National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero, said borders should not be closed that way because Nigeria was not at war.
He said: “I don’t think it is right to say the borders are closed; it is a normal security situation.
“We signed an ECOWAS protocol for free movement of people. Has Nigeria complied with the procedures of ECOWAS protocol? You don’t just close borders like that because the borders are actually entry point. It is just like you are closing your airports or closing your seaports. Nigeria has three entry points, which are airport, seaport and border stations and all these are legal stations in line with the provisions of the law and we have ECOWAS protocol and the protocol is talking about free movement of persons and goods and you have signed this protocol. If you want to do any closure, it must be a country-to-country negotiations and the issue should be done according to information, which is contained in World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements. ”
On his part, the Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Seme border chapter, Mr. Lasisi Fanu, said the border was still closed, adding that all the borders across the federation were affected.
“Since the border is closed, there is nothing agents are going there to do. Agents are to do documentations at the border for the goods coming in. Since goods are not coming in, there is nothing they are going there to do. We pray that the issue is not up to 28 days we heard earlier because we have perishable items at the border and everything will be perished,” he added.