Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, says that despite the reopening of borders, the importation of rice and other items remain banned.
He said with the deployment of technology in some of Nigeria’s borders, no one would enter the country with a hidden identity.
In August 2019, the President ordered closed Nigeria’s land border with Benin, preventing the import of goods.
The move significantly affected trade in foodstuffs, which had already been affected by various past import restrictions.
The order was part of an effort to tackle smuggling and associated corruption, but also to spur the domestic agricultural industry.
On December 16, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the immediate opening of four land borders after over a year that they were shut.
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Aregbesola, who spoke with newsmen in Ilesa on Saturday, explained that the need for proper documentation of movement in and out of the country led to the deployment of technology at the borders.
He expressed;
We have deployed technology which is called MINDARS – Migration Information Data Analysis System in the four borders we reopened.
MINDARS will register whoever passes, either a Nigerian or non-Nigerian across our borders and once you have registered, it is for life. It will take biometric, photographs, names, and other details in a central database. Nobody can now be anonymous through our border posts.
Aregbesola added that the reopening was for movement of people, goods, and services originating from the region of West Africa for trading purposes.
He stated;
Items that we banned are foreign items. Parboiled rice is only eaten in Nigeria in the entire West of Africa. The border reopening does not in any way affect the banned items. Like poultry, rice and other contraband such as psychotropic drugs, arms and ammunition, money laundering and others they are criminal.
