Nigeria’s borders not closed, Atiku’s reopening claim misleading — Tunji-Ojo

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has dismissed former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s promise to reopen Nigeria’s land borders if elected president in 2027, saying the borders are already open.

Tunji-Ojo, who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service, said in a statement on Saturday that “Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened.”

The minister said Nigeria had progressively reopened several land borders after the 2019 trade-related restrictions.

Boarders at Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum were reopened on December 16, 2020, while Idiroko and Ikom followed on April 20, 2022.

Similarly, Kamba and Tsamiya in Kebbi State were also reopened in February 2026, restoring links with Niger Republic and Benin Republic.

Tunji-Ojo said the reopening of the crossings demonstrated that the government’s border policy was not based on keeping the country’s land borders shut.

The minister also rejected Atiku’s reference to the Cameroon border as part of the 2019 shutdown, saying restrictions at Banki and Amchidé were caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.

“The prolonged closures on the Cameroon border, at Banki and Amchidé, did not arise from the 2019 trade policy at all,” he said.

According to him, the crossings were closed in 2014 for security reasons and later reopened following joint military and stabilisation efforts by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Tunji-Ojo said some northern crossings remained subject to tighter controls because of banditry and residual insurgency.

“Where banditry or residual insurgent activity persists, tighter control is a deliberate security judgement, not neglect,” he said.

He said modern border management could not be reduced to a choice between total closure and unrestricted movement.

“Modern border management is not a choice between total closure and unrestricted movement; it requires security, documentation, customs compliance and controlled trade facilitation together,” the minister said.

Tunji-Ojo urged Atiku to explain how his proposed border policy would differ from the current approach rather than presenting trade restrictions, security-related closures and infrastructure challenges as one continuous shutdown.

“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history,” he said.