The porosity of Nigeria’s borders has always been a source of speculations. But recent events of increasing wave of insurgencies have further heightened anxiety about the effectiveness of law enforcement across the country’s borders. While smugglers carry on with their illicit business almost unrestrained, suspected terrorists have continued to move in and out of the country, it would appear, freely. Their activities seem to be promoting the proliferation of illegal arms and ammunition, as displayed in the various attacks. Head, Special Investigations, Isioma Madike, in this report looks at what has become a dangerous trend, about which the security agencies are sorely concerned
In recent times, enemies of Nigeria have been invading the country through her loose borders. While smugglers of all manner carry on with their illicit business almost unrestrained, suspected terrorists have continued to move in and out of the country, freely. Their activities, according to security experts, have been promoting the proliferation of small arms and light weapons that is increasingly becoming a transnational organised crime in Nigeria. This has, somewhat left the nation awash with criminals of all sorts: suicide bombers, arms dealers, drugs pushers as well as human traffickers, particularly children.
Although, there had been threatening signals long before the bombs began to explode in different parts of the country. As it stands today, no Nigerian border post could be described as truly water-tight. In spite of the perceived importance of the nation’s borders to her security, economy and social wellbeing, they have remained poorly manned and inefficiently managed. However, due to logistic and manpower inadequacies, experts say operatives of security agencies deployed to man them are ill-motivated and poorly equipped, which has made them vulnerable.
Today, there is hardly any criminal act or violence in Nigeria that could not be traced to the ease with which armed gangs enter and exit through many of the nations’ over 149 borders. Smuggling of contraband goods, arms and human trafficking, mercenary activities directly linked to religious violence, are some of the vices attributable to these porous borders. So worrisome has the situation become that a senior official of the Nigerian Immigration Services recently lamented that “the influx of religious extremists from the Maghreb into northern part of the country and the consequent expansion of religious fundamentalism may not abate for now unless a concerted attention is given to the nation’s poorly-policed borders.” Some of these notorious borders include those with Niger, Chad, northern Cameroun and that of Benin Republic and Togo in the South-west area. Without exception, all these borders are loosely patrolled, while illegal movement of people and goods flow almost freely on a daily basis.
That Nigeria’s borders are massive is to state the obvious. In the northern border towns, the matter is made worse by the close cultural and religious affinity between Nigerians and their counterparts across the border. There exist hundreds of footpaths crisscrossing to neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Chad and Niger with links to Mali, Libya and Sudan. From conservative estimates by locals, there are well over 250 footpaths from Damaturu/ Maiduguri axis that link Cameroun, Chad or Niger. These paths, which are mostly unknown to security agencies, are unmanned, unprotected and have continued to serve as route for arms and ammunitions trafficking into Nigeria. In some of these areas, the contiguous nature of the border sometimes presents its own challenges. Most of the people in these areas inter marry, share similar cultural practices and worship in the same location. In fact, some of these foreigners have allegedly infiltrated, in some instances, to vote in Nigerian elections.
What is disheartening, however, is that these “merchants of death” have since devised methods to beat security at the borders, through the footpaths. These methods include the use of camels, donkeys and cows to traffic arms, ammunition and drugs such as cocaine into Nigeria.
The fact that the weapons are small, light and collapsible makes it easy to be concealed and moved on camels and donkeys’ back in a specially crafted skin or thatched bags mainly meant for the illegal “expedition” undetected. Similarly, some cows and grains merchants in the North-east zone device means of hiding cache of arms and ammunition in empty fuel tankers, vehicle engines and bags of grains among other means.
Over 250 footpaths link neighbouring countries –Investigations
The “grains” are transported in large number via trucks, trailers, lorries and pick-up vans with little attention given to them by security agents. The use of Jega type of tricycles ( KEKE-NAPEP) as well as camels, donkeys, and cows (moving in flocks) to deceive, hide and conveniently traffic arms in some parts of the North are ways hitherto unknown, not well exposed or documented. Though, their capacity for arms trafficking is beginning to be uncovered and is being curtailed by security agencies. The security situation in the Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation RESTORE ORDER area of responsibility forced the team to take on additional responsibility to trace sources of arms and ammunition to Boko Haram insurgents, how the arms are trafficked while taking measures to block them. This is one way to effectively stop terrorism in Nigeria. And this seems to be a task that has so far proved difficult but necessary to be accomplished if the war against insurgency is to be effectively executed.
Katsina State has several council areas that share borders with neighbouring Niger Republic with these areas often witness barrage of smugglers’ activities, especially during late night hours. Some of these council areas include Jibia, Kaita, Maiadua, and Zango, with smugglers more often than not, using small community pathways to move in their contraband into the country. The activities of these smugglers go to reveal the extent of the porous nature of the nation’s borders. It is a common thing for security agents, particularly the customs, to apprehend or pursue a suspected smuggler at the state’s borders on almost daily basis. Although there are yet to be reported cases of arrests of smugglers with cache of arms and ammunition through the Katsina area border, sources say such could not be ruled out due to the challenge posed by the country’s porous borders.
Like in the other borders across the nation, there are small paths through bushes and desert areas which are near impossible to have constant security surveillance on that smugglers use to bring in almost anything into the country. Though, security sources said that smuggling activities at the state’s border has to do more with influx of consumable items than items that are meant to harm human being such as arms and ammunitions. Some of these items, which customs officials confiscate on daily basis, include pharmaceutical drugs, rice, vegetable oil, spaghetti, and cloth materials. They said smuggling of these items through Katsina area border usually peaks few weeks before celebration of major religious and public holidays as demand for them increase at some of the local markets.
More so, there are known and unknown paths from Niger Republic into the state, which are now being judiciously utilised by smugglers as they use motorcycles instead of cars, for easy movement of contraband. As a way of combating smuggling activities at the state’s porous borders, however, the state’s Command of the Nigeria Customs Service said it had commenced a programme tagged, “Operation Seize All” aimed at intensifying patrol with a view to making seizures of contraband goods from suspected smugglers. It also said that NCS is collaborating with other security agencies in the state to assist by ensuring that the state’s porous borders are effectively manned against influx of contraband.
The Boko Haram Islamic sect, just like the Maitatsine group of the 1980s, finds ready adherents from within the territories of the country’s neighbours. Most of these mercenaries, because they have no stake in Nigeria, quite naturally seem to be more violent and ready to exert maximum collateral damage whenever they strike. But the problem is not restricted to the North. In the South-western border areas, especially the Seme Badagry-Idi Iroko axis, smuggling activities have continued unabated, thereby, posing serious threats to the nation’s economy. The textile industry, for instance, is a major casualty as virtually all the leading local textile mills have been shut down since their products could not compete with imported but cheaply priced wax and print materials smuggled through the borders.
It was the late Gen. Andrew Azazi, then National Security Adviser (NSA), who once said that the country is too big for the security agents to secure. Many did not understand him but few others knew that the late General was actually painting a picture of the realities inherent in the policing of the country’s borders. He had listed natural phenomena, political inadequacies and government neglect as factors responsible for the sorry state of the nation’s borders. Investigations have also revealed that the country’s Immigration Service have less that 300 officers deployed in the over 84 border posts in the northern part of the country with about 10 patrol vans to do the peripheral surveillance. Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, says “since I assumed office, we have taken deliberate steps in conjunction with the National Boundaries Commission (NBC) to identify our borders and the routes that lead to Nigeria from other countries. In the process, we have been able to identify 84 regular borders and over 1,487 irregular routes to the country.” The Minister did not stop there. He emphasised the concern of the Federal Government over the porous nature of Nigeria’s borders, when he stated that over 20,000 illegal aliens had been deported lately. He said that the impressionable borders made it easy for non-Nigerians to come in without proper authorisation and documentation. “Sometimes, some of these illegal foreign nationals acquire Nigerian passports and perpetrate all manner of atrocities in the name of the country. These range from smuggling of narcotics to gun-running,” Moro said.
When the Minister visited the Seme border a few months back, he stood ramrod, hands akimbo, mouth opened wide and confessed that the border sight was shocking. Many were not surprised though, for the border has been a notorious entry and exit point to the West. The same thing replicated itself at the Idi Iroko Border post. The scenario simply reinforced the claim that Nigeria’s borders are porous where chaos rules. Traders carry out their activities in such a manner that one cannot tell when someone has crossed the border. In fact, one can be on the Nigerian side and be haggling with a trader on the Benin Republic side.
According to Moro, his decision to pay the visit to both borders was borne out of the reports he had been getting that Nigeria did not have adequate Immigration services at both borders, a situation which makes it easy for miscreants to enter the country with relative ease. This assertion, he said, made him leave Abuja and headed for Lagos enroute Idi-Iroko and Seme on unscheduled visits to see things for himself and to enable his ministry arrest the insecurity caused by such border porosity. The Minister was conducted round the premises, which also houses the Customs, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), among other security outfits. The first thing that caught his attention was the decaying infrastructure at the border post. The offices could only be likened to the eye sore that was once the fate of the Police College, Ikeja. The environment was virtually a piggery while darkness took over the entire place due to lack of electricity while the entire surrounding had market men and women buying and selling.
‘NIS has less than 300 officers deployed in 84 border posts’
It was also observed that all the offices lacked basic needs like air conditioners, tables and chairs while the whole environment looked more like a dungeon. There were electrical wires all over the offices, unused water tanks littered the environment while the toilets and bathrooms were nothing to write home about. Checking the other facilities in place at the Immigration office, the Minister could not help but asked, “Is this the kind of environment you people operate in and you do not care about your health? This is worrisome that all is happening here and nobody is bringing it to the attention of government.”
As if that was not enough, the visit to the demarcation called border between Nigeria and Benin Republic left the Minister in a bigger shock. The borders had no gates; rather the demarcation was done with bamboo trunks, which could not guarantee any security or serious scrutiny to stop people from coming in and out of Nigeria. The reaction of Moro, on sighting the bamboo was: “How do you differentiate between Nigerians and Benin Republic citizens here, especially with this free movement in and out? How do you know people who are entering Nigeria to cause mayhem or those people that are miscreants? It was not clear if he got any answer to all his questions.
At the Seme Border, from the point of arrival, everything seemed wrong with the setting. The bamboo demarcation discovered at Idi-Iroko replicated itself while men of Immigration and other security outfits operated from inside containers, a situation which left the Minister worried for the several hours he spent there. Meanwhile, what the Minister did not notice was the other unmarked routes through which smugglers do their business successfully, smuggling into the country cars, electronics, food items and many more. Those familiar with the smuggling business said there are dozens of such unmarked routes through which cars and food items are smuggled into Nigeria; just as there are many more footpaths that allow for the free flow of people. Based on what he saw, the Minister promised that the Federal Government will build a plaza at the borders. “Our plan is to build a plaza at these borderlines to further improve on our security situation while effort is in place to repair all dilapidated infrastructures at the offices,” he said.
The visits must have made the Minister wiser as he turned around to advise the Federal Government to emulate the border control put in place by the United State. “We should access what is possible and you know in life everything is possible. If we have the means to do the same here, our borders will be save. I went on a trip to attend a conference in Canada. It was an annual conference and an exhibition of the latest in technology in terms of surveillance and intelligence gathering essentially with internal security. We do not have any border protection in Nigeria. I took time off to assess the border control of the USA. Our borders are literarily open if you compare Nigerian borders with that of the USA. In those places they have border control, border plazas and border post. They have sufficient personnel and they have border protection agency that is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that only legitimate persons cross into the USA territory. The system is technology-driven. Their equipment is segmented. There are machines for narcotics; there are those to detect arms and ammunition,” he said.
Incidentally, Moro is not alone in his lamentation. Rilwanu Bala Musa, who acted as Comptroller-General of Nigerian Immigration Service before David Paradang was appointed substantive CG, had admitted that the country’s borders were porous. This he said presented a huge challenge to the agency, especially at the North-eastern part of the country through which Boko Haram insurgents infiltrate to wreak havoc on the country. He described the porous borders as problematic, adding that it was one of the major tasks he undertook on assumption of office. He, however, noted that the Federal Government had intensified effort to fortify these areas and ensure that further infiltration of terrorists into the country was stopped.
“NIS has acknowledged that capacity building is key to success at meeting our goals. Therefore, it has continually trained and retrained its officers and men on the use of IT tools, intelligence gathering and analysis and other numerous fields to improve our capacity. However, we also acknowledge that the land borders have been our weakest link. On assumption of duty, I undertook a tour of our borders at the North-eastern part of the country. I observed the environment, discussed with stakeholders in the region and have made my recommendations to the government. I am excited that government is handling the situation well,” Musa had said.
Meanwhile, the offensive by soldiers in parts of the North-east against Boko Haram had exposed many foreign elements within the ranks of the insurgents, who easily entered and exited the country to carry out their terror attacks. NIS had identified inadequate logistics and poor road network as major factors, inhibiting the service from protecting the country’s porous borders. According to Mrs. Rose Uzoma, former CG of Immigration, the poor state of road infrastructure across the West African border countries is not helping the service. She had stressed that there is need for NIS to be properly equipped. “The challenge we have with the borders, if you look at the borders all the way from Nigeria – Cameroun border is mountainous in nature, if you look at the border between Nigeria, Niger, Chad, you will see desert. As you are aware, they are porous at large. So, what we are doing is to work towards assessment. One of the challenges we face is lack of patrol vehicles and delineated border. There is no good road that connects us to these countries; these are supposed to be done at the ECOWAS level, she had observed.
Senate President, David Mark, has equally lamented the porous state of Nigeria’s borders, which he identified as a major boost for the influx of terrorists into the country. According to him, over the years, the porous state of the borders has given rise to human trafficking and mercenaries. He said the situation was worsened by the inability of the Border Communities Development Agency to champion the cause of residents of border communities. Mark said the development has aggravated the living conditions of residents of such communities because of dearth of infrastructure in the areas.
But, there are other opinions that suggest that some bad politicians, greedy customs’ officers and some disgruntled elements among other law enforcement officers are encouraging and supporting criminals from different parts of the of the world to import all sorts of arms into the country. It will be recalled that on July 17, 2010, an Iranian, Azin Aghajani, accompanied by one Nigerian named Ali Jega were alleged to have illegally imported 13-by-20 feet container load of firearms and explosives into Nigeria from Iran by falsely declaring on the Bill of Lading that the consignment contained construction materials. 15 Russians were also arrested in Lagos by naval officers on October 18, 2012 and arraigned on February 19, 2013, for unlawful importation of arms into Nigeria.
The accused persons were alleged to have entered the Nigerian territorial waters, without due clearance from the Nigerian Custom Service and refusal to declare the content of their vessel, an offence that contravened the Provisions of the Fire arms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 as well as the Provision of the Miscellaneous Offence Act, Cap M17 Laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004. Using the porous borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroun in the desolate scrubland around lake Chad and some of the country’s waterways, many believe that some of these criminals from foreign countries are behind the smuggling of bigger weapons for the members of Boko Haram sect and other militia groups that are terrorising Nigeria.
The condition of our borders is alarming –Moro
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ogun State Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, told Sunday Mirror that “there should be synergy between all the security agencies at the various countries’ border posts. We have the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigeria Police, as well as men of the State Security Service (SSS) all at the borders. So, heads of all these security agencies should be meeting to discuss the modalities for stepping up security and prevent the inflow of liquid arms and ammunitions into the country.”
His counterpart at the Customs, Chike Ngige, stated that his Command has plugged all holes and porous areas at the Ogun border to ensure that arms and ammunitions do not find their ways into the Nigeria society through it. “We have also devised several tactics both at the border and within the market places with our officers manning all the points where these people carried out their nefarious activities and it is yielding positive results. Just last week at the Imeko/Afon border area, we intercepted about 1, 600 cartridges of ammunition concealed in some bags of rice. Two suspects were carrying them on motorbikes, pretending to be bags of rice. But immediately we accosted the one in front, he abandoned the load along with his motorcycle and ran away. On sighting us, the second one quickly made de-tour and ran away and we chased him till he entered the Republic of Benin and disappear from our focus.
“We have devised several means and an information network is helping us to get information on any moves of the smugglers. We are not leaving any stone unturned to make sure that Ogun State border areas are not used by all these evil men in Nigeria and their foreign collaborators. So, those are the efforts but we still have several other security arrangements which I will not want to expose on the pages of newspaper so as not to jeopardise the arrangement. We have several border points that entered Ogun State but I want to tell you that we have identified over 200 unapproved routes that enter the country, which these criminal often make use to carry out their activities. Again, the point is that even if you decide to deploy all the Customs officers we have in the country to man these routes, it wouldn’t be enough. But we are doing everything possible to ensure that effectively police the borders,” Ngige said
Felix Ajibade Kuti of the Immigration Service is also conscious of the current security situation in the country. Though, he said, “Nigeria is not an exemption to the security challenges, which many countries of the world are facing now. Specifically, Nigeria Immigration Service is taking measures at ensuring more effective border patrols and that is why in all the commands throughout the federation, particularly in states where we have borders with neighbouring countries, we ensure that we keep 24 hours surveillance at our border area. In Ogun State, the Comptroller is always directing effective and very prompt deployment of officers and men as well as logistics so that we can be sure that in line with the directive of the Comptroller-General, that our border areas are more effectively patrolled and policed.
“Not only this, the traditional rulers in those communities that border the country have also been very supportive. Members of the various unions like the transport unions as well as the trade unions’ collaboration have been yielding good results. All these are to make sure that we are abreast of minute by minute development at the border areas. When we co-opt the security agents and other stakeholders in the security business at the border areas, it makes the job easier for us to effectively police the borders and keep criminals away from our country. Officials of the transport unions promptly alert us whenever they suspect a foreigner with suspicious luggage even as they are bringing such into the country and that has gone a long way to assist us here in Ogun Command,” he said.
However, NIS believes that with adequate financing and manpower, it is capable of delivering its Corps mandate. The Federal Government has itself attributed the inability of the Service to curb illegal migration into the country on the porosity of the borders, which are known to be barricaded only with woods and tyres. Moro had observed that “the condition of our borders is alarming. It is unfortunate that the illegal routes are barricaded by tyres and woods, which create an easy route for terrorists into the country. I want to assure you that we will contain the situation that has beclouded our country for a long time.” On how he intends to achieve that, he said that his ministry has taken delivery of firearms and other devices to stem the tide. He added that HP CDAN Voice and Data Radios have been procured and are being installed in 59 Immigration locations nationwide, in order to facilitate effective communication links between the state commands and border control posts.
As part of efforts aimed at strengthening the monitoring of the borders, the Federal Government, it was gathered has approved the establishment of a border patrol corps and the creation of additional border posts for the Immigration Service. This could in response to the resurgence in terror activities at the border towns between Borno and Yobe states of Nigeria and the countries of Chad, Cameroun and Niger Republic. The approval, according to investigations, is part of the new strategies evolved to curtail the arms smuggling and the activities of the Islamist fundamentalists. Contained in a letter with reference number DPARA// FMOI/0032/ TI/51, and signed by the Director of Paramilitary Services Department, Keftin Amuga, on behalf of the Minister, the move would see the deployment of some officers and men of NIS in the new corps while new hands may also be recruited.
Already, NIS has announced that it has commenced the process of recruiting new hands into its fold. Also, its latest newsletter confirmed the approval. The letter was addressed to the CG, in response to his request for the establishment of the border patrol Corps. Paradang had, upon his appointment as NIS CG last month, sought for the approval of the Minister for the establishment of the Corps. He reportedly anchored his demand on the need to ensure a holistic management of the nation’s borders, which he admitted are porous.
Nigeria’s first chartered security professional and president of Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operations of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu, recommends Mobile Surveillance System, which, according to him, provides a cost effective way of monitoring key areas with limited resources. “Similarly, Blighter Radar, unlike traditional Air Surveillance Radar, can effectively survey both the land and low air zone simultaneously,” he said. In the same vein, Olusegun Adeniyi, who was media assistant to late president Umaru Yar’Adua, noted that the fundamental problem of border security, arms trafficking, efficient and effective fight against terrorism in Nigeria, are institutional fragmentation, intelligence and policy non-coordination among the security agencies. These challenges, he said, are real and must be addressed for the fight against terrorism, arms proliferation and border security to be effective.
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