Eseoghene Emuke
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday ordered the reopening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with Republic of Niger following the military coup which sacked the civilian government of President Mohamed Bazoum in July 2023.
The Nigerian President also directed that all sanctions slammed against the West Africa neighbour be immediately lifted.
Tinubu, who also the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), had slammed Republic of Niger with sanctions and shutting down of land and air borders of the military takeover in the country.
The sanctions forced the governments of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea where military coups recently took place to withdraw their members of ECOWAS.
Following current development, ECOWAS leaders at their recent meeting lifted all sanctions and agreed to open land and air borders to Republic of Niger.
President Tinubu said the directive to open Nigeria’s borders and lifting of all sanctions to her neighbour was compliance with the decisions of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its extraordinary summit held in Abuja on February 24, 2024.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu also approved the lifting of financial and economic sanctions against the Republic of Guinea.
“President Bola Tinubu has directed the opening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger and the lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect.
“The President has directed that the following sanctions imposed on the Republic of Niger be lifted immediately:
“(1) Closure of land and air borders between Nigeria and Niger Republic, as well as ECOWAS no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger Republic.
“(2) Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between Nigeria and Niger, as well as freeze of all service transactions, including utility services and electricity to Niger Republic.
“(3) Freeze of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central Banks and freeze of assets of the Republic of Niger, state enterprises, and parastatals in commercial banks.
“(4) Suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly EBID and BOAD.
“(5) Travel bans on government officials and their family members.
“President Tinubu has also approved the lifting of financial and economic sanctions against the Republic of Guinea”, the statement read.
