The governments of Nigeria, Benin and Niger Republic have set up a joint committee to curb smuggling of goods at their common borders.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, revealed that the meeting was convened on the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari who wanted the issues to be resolved quickly. The committee, he said, would also ensure the establishment of a tripartite anti-smuggling joint border patrol team with power to arrest and hand over any person arrested to the appropriate authorities in the three countries for investigation and prosecution.
The committee will ensure the “sharing of information and intelligence on the movement of goods, services and people among the three countries, sensitisation of stakeholders on the decision of the three counties to set-up anti-smuggling operations and cooperation.” He said that the Nigerian government had also signed various Memoranda of Understanding with its neighbours, but lamented that there have been difficulties and challenges in fully implementing these MoUs.