Udora Orizu in Abuja
The House of Representatives has called on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to liaise with relevant security agencies in order to expand their coverage of the country’s porous borders.
The House also passed a resolution to constitute an Ad-hoc Committee that would organise a security summit that would involve all military and paramilitary agencies as well as indigenes of border communities with the purpose of finding lasting solutions to the socio-economic and security challenges posed by the porosity of Nigeria’s borders.
The resolution was sequel to the unanimous adoption of a motion on the “Need to Address the Porosity of Nigeria’s Borders,” which was sponsored by Hon. Babatunde Hunpe.
Moving the motion, Hunpe noted the large international boundaries under Nigeria’s watch have not been adequately secured due to insufficient resources and manpower, which has great implications on the economic, security and social development of the country.
He expressed concerns that the porous nature of the borders has precipitated several crimes, which pose serious threats to national security.
Hunpe said: ‘’The proliferation of arms, illegal immigration and smuggling of expired goods into the country are as a result of the porosity of Nigeria’s borders, which also makes it easy for terrorists to carry out their activities in border states like Lagos, Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Taraba, Adamawa, among others.”
He added that the volatile situation at the country’s borders has greatly hampered the efforts of the government towards ending the activities of insurgents in the country.
Meanwhile, the House also adopted a motion titled, “Need to Construct the Road from Ibaji in Kogi State to Anambra State,” sponsored by Hon. David Idris Zacharias.
