President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria’s land borders will be reopened as soon as possible.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said President Buhari stated this during a meeting with state governors in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the President, the borders were closed to curb smuggling of weapons and drugs from neighboring countries.
Buhari said: “Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we are looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible.
“The sub-region is no longer safe, more so with the collapse of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and the cross border movement of weapons and criminals.
“Governors must work with traditional rulers. Try and work with traditional rulers to boost intelligence gathering.
“Every day, I get situation reports about illegal refineries and the blowing up of pipelines. You must stop local rogues from sabotaging oil installations.”
On the rising incidents of banditry and kidnapping in the country, the President declared: “Security is important, and we must secure the whole country. We are thinking very hard on the issue of kidnapping. We will make it possible for the military to get to the bandits and kidnappers and eliminate them.”
Buhari pledged that the government will provide more equipment for the military to effectively fight criminals.
“I am not going to the public to speak about the vehicles and equipment we have ordered. What I can say is that the military received armoured cars and other equipment and they are training the trainers. More of such equipment, including military aircraft, will come in.”