TUNJI-OJO TO ATIKU: NIGERIA’S LAND BORDERS ARE ALREADY OPEN
Read Time:2 Minute, 47 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has dismissed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s pledge to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president in 2027, insisting that the country’s borders are already open.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, had promised to reopen all closed land borders, including those connecting Nigeria with Benin Republic, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
He argued that prolonged border restrictions had undermined cross-border trade, contributed to rising food prices and caused financial difficulties for traders.
However, Tunji-Ojo, who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, said the former vice president’s position was based on an inaccurate assessment of the current status of Nigeria’s land borders.
“As the Minister of Interior who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, an agency of government in charge of border control and migration management, it is expedient to state that Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened,” Tunji-Ojo said in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday.
The minister said several major land borders had already been reopened by successive administrations.
According to him, the Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum borders were reopened on December 16, 2020, while the Idiroko and Ikom borders were reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022.
He added that the Kamba and Tsamiya border posts in Kebbi State, linking Nigeria with Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively, were reopened under the current administration in February 2026.
Tunji-Ojo also challenged Atiku’s characterisation of Nigeria’s border situation with Cameroon, particularly the Banki and Amchidé crossings.
He explained that their prolonged closure was caused by security concerns arising from Boko Haram activities in 2014, rather than the 2019 trade policy.
“The prolonged closures on the Cameroon border, at Banki and Amchidé, did not arise from the 2019 trade policy at all. They date to 2014, when Boko Haram forced their closure for security reasons,” he said.
The minister added that the crossings were reopened in 2019, while Fotokol and Gambaru followed in 2021 after joint military and stabilisation efforts involving Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
He warned that combining security-related border restrictions with the 2019 trade policy could create a misleading picture of the country’s border management history.
Tunji-Ojo, however, acknowledged that some crossings, particularly in areas still affected by banditry and residual insurgent activities, remain subject to tighter controls.
He said such measures were deliberate security decisions intended to protect traders and border communities.
“Where banditry or residual insurgent activity persists, tighter control is a deliberate security judgement, not neglect, since reopening ahead of the security situation would expose traders and border communities to greater risks,” he said.
According to the minister, effective border management requires a balance between national security, proper documentation, customs compliance and trade facilitation.
He therefore urged political actors to avoid what he described as rewriting recent history for political advantage.
Tunji-Ojo challenged Atiku to present a fresh border management policy and explain how it would differ from the current approach rather than treating trade, security and infrastructure challenges as a single issue.
“If he has a new border management proposal, he should set it out and explain how it differs from the current approach, rather than treating separate trade, security and infrastructure issues as the same,” he said.
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