Menu

Seme

toyota-recalls-3-4-million-vehicles-worldwide-says-air-bags-may-not-deploy

Ban on vehicle importation through Seme border still in force – Customs

,

Seme (Lagos State), June 24, 2023: The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has denied reports that the Federal Government has lifted the ban on vehicle importation through the Seme border.

Mr Hussaini Abdullahi, Customs Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Seme Area Command, said the report is not true.

Abdullahi, explained that the service had not made such a pronouncement at all, though a proposal was written by some freight forwarders to the federal government following an advise from Prince Ademola Adegoroye, the then Minister of States for Transportation.

He said that the former minister had visited the border to inaugurate some projects sometime in February when the freight forwarders put up a complaint to him about how the ban had affected them.

He added that the minister had advised the freight forwarders and members of the border community then to put their requests in writing.

The Customs spokesman said that a recent visit by the Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transportation, Ibrahim Musa only confirmed that the letter by the freight forwarders had been received and acted upon by the ministry by forwarding it to higher authority.

Seme border was among the four land borders reopened by Federal Government on Dec.16, 2020 by the then Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.

The Federal Government had on Aug. 21, 2019, ordered the closure of Nigerian borders to curb smuggling of goods and weapons.

Seme Nigeria and Niger border

Joint Border Patrol Teams still in operation at Seme

, , 0

By Tanko Mohammed

The Joint Border Patrol Teams (JBPT) put in place to enforce movement restrictions during the 16-month border closure are still in operation in Seme, seven days after the reopening of the border.

The Federal Government had set up the JBPT, comprising police, military, immigration, customs and civil defence, to enforce movement restrictions and curb activities of smugglers when the land borders were partially closed in August 2019.

JBPT were still in full operation at Owode and Seme land borders on Wednesday.

The operatives of the JBPT were also seen at Gbaji junction, while their teams maintained several other checkpoints along Badagry-Seme expressway.

A member of the JBPT, who pleaded anonymity, said that there was no directive from Abuja to disband the joint task force, seven days after the reopening of the land borders.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, on Dec. 16, announced the immediate reopening of four land borders after the Federal Executive Council meeting held virtually in Abuja.

The Federal Government had on August 21, 2019, ordered the closure of Nigerian borders to curb smuggling of goods and weapons.

seme border 1

Seme border reopens

, 0

By Tanko Mohammed

Nigeria’s land border with Benin Republic at Seme, near Badagry, Lagos State, has been reopened on Friday.

Human and vehicular movement across the border post have resumed after 16 months of closure.

Officials of the Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerians Immigration Service and Port Health Service have resumed checking in and out of travellers.

Mrs Seweka Avoseh, a Nigerian traveling to Ghana, commended Federal Government for reopening the land borders.

She said that the closure of the country’s land borders had affected her business, urging the government to proffer alternative solutions to cross border crimes.

The Federal Government had on Aug.21, 2019, ordered the closure of the Nigerian borders to curb smuggling of goods and weapons.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, on Wednesday announced the immediate reopening of four land borders after the Federal Executive Council meeting held virtually in Abuja.

“The president has approved the reopening of four land borders, namely– Seme, South-West, Ilela, North West, Maigatari border in the North-West and North-Central and Mfum in the South-South.

“These four land borders will be opened immediately, while the remaining land borders are directed to be reopened on or before Dec. 31,’’ the minister told State House Correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday.

She said that Buhari also directed that while the borders were being reopened, the ban on the importation of rice, poultry and other products still subsisted and would be implemented by the border patrol team.