The closing of regional borders owing to the ongoing conflict in the Niger Republic has caused a loss of roughly N13 billion every week, which northern businessmen have bemoaned.
According to Daily Trust, President Bola Tinubu ordered the closure of all crossings with the Niger Republic on August 4. Nigerian Customs is presently enforcing this order. Jibiya in Katsina State, Illelah in Sokoto, and Maigatari in Jigawa are the bordering areas.
The chairman of the Arewa Economic Forum, Ibrahim Yahaya Dandakata, told a press conference on Sunday in Abuja that the closure’s financial effects are becoming intolerable for traders and urged the federal government to reopen the maje-illo border in Kebbi so that they can import goods.
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“Since the order by the President to close all the borders with Niger Republic following the announcement of the coup, the consequences have been huge. Northern traders loss N13bn weekly.
“Trade between Niger and Nigeria is usually informal especially in perishable goods and only last year alone, it is estimated at about N177bn in goods and services like livestock and food items
“Therefore, further closure of the border will be detrimental to the huge trade going on between these two countries.
“We hereby appeal to President Tinubu to open the maje-illo border in Kebbi state to enable traders bring in their goods into the country and empower customs to collect import duty thereafter,” he explained.
Also speaking, a trader and member of the forum, Hamza Saleh Jibiya, said since the closure of the border, about 2,000 containers laden with perishable and non-perishable goods have been trapped and cannot be cleared due to the closure
“The average value of a container is between $20,000 to $70,000 which in our estimation will be about N140bn trapped in those containers.
“The alternative which we appeal now is for the federal government to open the maje-illo border in Kebbi to enable us remain in business,” he added.
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