President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the country has witnessed a decline in banditry because of the control of weapons smuggling since the partial closure of the border.
Buhari spoke yesterday while receiving President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso who chaired the ECOWAS Committee mandated to resolve the issue of border closure at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The president called for more patience from neighbouring countries over the issue of partial closure of Nigeria’s land border to goods.
He said the matter would be determined by report of tripartite committee made up of Nigeria, Benin and Niger Republic, restating that the decision to partially close the border was purely to safeguard national security.
“Our major problem is security – the inflow of weapons, ammunition and drugs. We have witnessed a decline in banditry using such weapons since the partial closure of the border. Also, our farmers are now able to sell their rice since we stopped the inflow of foreign rice, usually dumped in the country,” he said in a statement issued yesterday by his media aide.
President Buhari, who said Nigeria took cognizance of the concerns of neighbouring countries on the issue, said his administration would find an early and enduring solution.
