President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday Nigeria’s boundaries with other neighbouring states in West Africa would be declared soon.
The president, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this during a safety meeting with the 36 state governors held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He explained closed of Nigeria’s land borders was aimed at assessing the importation of firearms and weapons into the country.
Buhari asked the state governors to operate more with traditional rulers and community members to enhance local intelligence gathering to the security agencies.
The president said:”Now that the message has sunk in with our neighbours, we’re looking into reopening the borders as soon as possible.
“The sub-region is no longer secure, more so with the meltdown of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi’s regime and the cross border movement of weapons and criminals.
“Governors must utilize traditional rulers. Attempt to utilize traditional rulers to boost intelligence gathering.”
President Buhari said that his government has done well in the North- East and South-South, adding that the South-South scenario was still painful.
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“Every single day I get circumstance reports about illegal refineries as well as the blowing up of pipelines. You have to stop local rogues from sabotaging oil installations,” he told the governors.
The federal authorities ordered the closing of Nigeria’s borders in August last year in a bid to check the importation of substandard products and weapons into the country.
