The Director-General of the Department for State Services (DSS), Mr. Magaji Bichi has said that the closure of Nigeria’s borders has greatly reduced the inflow of illegal firearms into the country.
Bichi disclosed this while speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Executive Intelligence Management Course of the National Institute for Security Studies in Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government ought to sustain the closure until normalcy is returned.
“The recent closure of our borders attest to what we intend to achieve despite the criticism, the closure of our borders so far, have succeeded in checkmating not only smuggling of goods that are illegally brought into the country, even firearms and then checkmating the movement of people that are likely to undermine the security of this country.”
Furthermore, Bichi urged the graduating participants to use their knowledge in their respective duty posts to help the government handle the nation’s security challenges effectively.
It would be recalled that the country’s four major borders in the North-West, North-Central, South- West, and South-South geopolitical zones were closed on August 21, this is in a bid to rid the country from illegal activities by smugglers and also to boost the nation’s economy, a move that has generated mixed reactions.
According to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Retired Major General Babagana Monguno, the border will remain shut until the objectives behind the motive is achieved.
More so, operation has recorded success with over 100 illegal migrants and 117 suspected smugglers arrested, while 8360 bags of 50kg foreign rice have been impounded with other banned items seized.
