Border Closure Didn’t Address FG’s Concerns, Buhari Admits

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, admitted that despite his regime’s recent closure of land borders, arms and ammunition continued flowing illegally.
He attributed the problem to the situation in Libya, saying that once the country remains unstable, illegal arms and ammunition will continue to flow in the Sahel region of Africa.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while receiving in farewell audience the outgoing Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohammed Ibn Chambas.
The statement was titled “An unstable Libya remains a problem for the Sahel region, says President Buhari.”
Nigeria shut its land borders in August, 2019, to crack down on smuggling.
They were, however, reopened in December, 2020 ahead of the January 1, 2021 implementation date of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement
The President was quoted as saying, yesterday that, “We closed our land borders here for more than a year, but arms and ammunition continued to flow illegally.
“As far as Libya remains unstable, so will the problem remain.
“We have to cope with the problems of development, as we can’t play hop, step and jump. But we will eventually overcome those problems.”
Buhari said Muammar Gadaffi held a grip on power in Libya for 42 years by recruiting armed guards from different countries, who then escaped with their arms when the Libyan strongman was killed.
“They didn’t learn any other skill than to shoot and kill. So, they are a problem all over the Sahel countries today,” the President said.
He described Chambas, who spent many years in Nigeria in different capacities, from ECOWAS to UN, as “more of a Nigerian than anything else.”