THESHIELD Garkuwa
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Lull at Illela border in spite of border reopening
From Our Special Correspondent in Sokoto
There was a lull of activities at the Illela border control post, in Sokoto State, in spite of the reopening of four land borders since Thursday.
President Muhammadu Buhari had since last Thursday directed the reopening of four land borders in the country,after over a year of closure.
They are : Illela in Sokoto State, Maigatari in Jigawa State, Mfun in Cross River State and Seme In Lagos State.
Buhari had also announced that, the ban on rice importation and an arrary of other products was still in force.
However, during a visit to the border post on Sunday, Our Correspondent learnt that, only the Operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service ( NIS), were seen working.
A reliable source who however sought for anonymity said that, they were directed to allow only passengers with valid travel documents to enter and go out of the country.
” We have received directives from our Service Headquarters in Abuja to commmence operations and we have fully complied .”
However , the personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service had not resumed operations at the border post, with another impeccable source citing non receipt of any circular to do so.
Other agencies deployed to the border post had not also resumed operations.
However, some illegal movements of goods in and out of Illela town were observed through illegal routes, as Sunday was the market day.
Meanwhile,the Chairman of the Cattle Sellers Association at the Illela market, Alhaji Bashar Zubairu, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for reopening the border.
Zubairu stated that, the happy development had greatly bolstered their activities, which had almost gone into oblivion in the past one year .
