Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has identified the porous nature of Nigeria’s borders as a contributing factor to the nation’s increasing security challenges. The former leader specifically traced the escalating banditry, kidnappings, and other violent crimes in the country to the nation’s unmanned borders. The elder statesman, who stated this at 15th Founder’s Day of the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN), emphasised the imperative of strengthening Nigeria’s border security measures to prevent external threats and infiltration of criminal elements from neighboring countries into the country.
“Our borders are very porous. Take the North-West to the North-East, which is close to a thousand miles, some of the perpetrators of these heinous acts are from across the border. We must identify these elements and deal with them. I think we should have more security manpower on standby with adequate infrastructure to ensure that our borders are well guarded in case of any eventuality,” Gowon stated.
The observation of the former Head of state is timely and valid, given the rising spate of insecurity in the country and the rate at which Nigerians resident in communities close to the borders are regularly attacked and slaughtered by criminal elements suspected to be operating from neighbouring West African countries. Gowon is not the only one expressing concerns over the Nigeria’s porous borders. The House of Representatives in the 9th National Assembly, had at some point, mandated its Committees on Police Affairs, Army and Interior to interface with the Inspector-General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff and the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, respectively, on the best ways of policing and securing the nation’s porous borders.
Within the same period, concerned citizens and groups such as Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), comprising elders and statesmen from the Southern and North Central geo-political zones of the country had warned that the nation’s peace was under threat because of the activities of infiltrators from other nations.
These are issues that should not be taken lightly by the federal government. Nigeria has large stretch of borders. The borders are porous and poorly policed. This is why illegal aliens can stream into the country unchecked. Data from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in 2018 showed that the nation’s land borders were vulnerable and the personnel to man them, grossly inadequate. There are about 1,500 identified land border crossings into Nigeria. Only 114, covering 4,000 square kilometres, had approved control posts manned by merely 23,000 Immigration Officials and other security agencies.
Available statistics also reveal that Nigeria has international land borders of about 4,470 km (2,513 miles) with Chad Republic, Cameroon, Benin and Niger and a coastline of 774km which are largely unmanned. These are the loopholes the foreign criminal elements exploit to slip into the country.
No doubt, the porous borders encourage the proliferation of illegal arms and ammunition, which contributes considerably to the frightening level of insecurity in the country. The danger in leaving the borders unpoliced is that the citizens are exposed to attacks by terrorists and other cross border criminals.
Tightening the land borders will drastically reduce the influx of foreign invaders into the country. Let those charged with border patrols do their work effectively. The Nigeria Police Force should rise up to the occasion. There should be adequate policing of the borders. There is need for inter-agency collaboration among our security agencies at the border posts as well as the cooperation of security agencies of our neighboring countries.
The provisions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Treaty on Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Establishment, should not be enough reason for questionable characters to be allowed access into the country. Article 7 (1c) of the treaty states that countries have the right to refuse entry for persons whom their local laws forbid from entering. The section states; “Entry into the territory of a member state shall be permitted for a person who is not prohibited from entering the member state by the laws of that member state for the protection of national security, public order or public health.” Nigeria should insist on the enforcement of this principle.
It is worth reminding the government that its primary duty is to ensure the security and welfare of the citizens. Apart from policing the borders, other factors fueling insecurity must be urgently tackled. These include the challenged policing system, hunger, unemployment, disunity, feeling of deprivation and alienation by marginalised groups as well as bad governance. Addressing these issues frontally will largely curb the nation’s security challenges.