Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate opening of four of the country’s land borders.
The borders are Seme in Lagos State, Illela in Sokoto State, Maigatari in Jigawa State and Mfun in the south-south.
The Nigerian leader’s directive was made through the Minister of Finance at the end of the 28th virtual Federal Executive Committee (FEC) meeting on Wednesday.
President Buhari also directed other land borders to be opened by December 31, 2020.
He had on December 8, 2020, revealed plans to reopen the land borders, explaining that the closure of the nation’s land borders was part of the efforts by the government to control the smuggling of weapons and drugs into the country.
“Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible,” Buhari was quoted as saying in a statement by Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity.