Officials of the Economic
Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) has advised the Nigerian government
to find a permanent solution to the challenge of smuggling.
In a statement released on
Tuesday, the bloc said the border closure might hamper the implementation of
free trade movement within the region.
Addressing parliamentarians at
the ongoing 2nd extraordinary session of the ECOWAS parliament in Monrovia,
Moustapha Lo, speaker of the ECOWAS parliament, requested that the Nigerian
government reopens its borders.
Lo said the closure happened at a
time when Africa was working to intensify efforts for the effective abolition
of barriers within the member-states.
The Nigerian government had
closed its borders since August with President Muhammadu Buhari saying the move
was to check smuggling.
The ECOWAS parliament said the
closure is a hindrance to the achievement of the regional bloc’s main
objective, which includes “achieving the creation of a prosperous, borderless
West African region where peace and harmony prevail”.
“The ECOWAS Parliament calls for
compliance with Community provisions and thus calls for the reopening of
borders and a coordinated fight against smuggling in the region,” the statement
said.
“The root causes of this
recurrent situation must be studied with a view to finding a permanent
solution.”
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