Border Closure: Smugglers Create Over 100 Illegal Routes To Beat Customs In The North
LAGOS NOVEMBER 5TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Following the closure of land borders nationwide by the Federal Government, most smugglers of banned items have devised a new method to beat the security authorities.
Sunday Tribune investigation at Illela, in Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State, a border town between Nigeria and Niger Republic, has revealed.
Sunday Tribune learnt that more than 100 illegal routes are now being used by the smugglers to bring banned items such as rice, vegetable oil and even second hand clothes, among others, into the country.
A security official who spoke with Sunday Tribune on condition of anonymity disclosed that the border closure had no major effects on the smugglers, saying they were making use of illegal routes.
He said: “we are here monitoring the activities of these people, but we have limited power to do much.
“Our duty is to man this border and ensure that no one crosses or passes through it, but we cannot go and monitor illegal routes which are not part of our duty,” he added.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the customs in the state, Mailafiya Magaji, referred Sunday Tribune to the National spokesman, Mr John Attah.
When contacted, Attah assured that all the illegal routes would be looked into as soon as possible.
He assured that the office of the National Security Adviser is monitoring the joint operations, which he said, were aimed at curbing all the illegal routes and stopping the importation of all the banned items into the country.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Mustapha Shehuri, on Saturday reassured farmers on accessibility of better farming equipment and government support.
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