The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service,  Mohammad Babandede has said that only the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd)  could decide when the nation’s borders will be reopened.

He added that NIS has  no powers to reopen the borders which were closed in August, 2019..

He spoke at NIS headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday during the project validation meeting with senior officers of NIS, including zonal and state comptrollers of Immigration.

Babandede said  the borders were not fully closed, adding that they were opened from 6am to 6pm.

He said, “The borders are partially closed and this is in line with the ECOWAS rules where you must have travel documents. You must enter through the legal routes and with documents.”

He reiterated adding that the borders were closed to secure the country, adding that the measure was not targeted at some neighbouring countries.

According to him, the Visa on Arrival policy was not at variance with the ongoing closure of borders.

He stated that the increase in the number of visas from 6 to 79 was to enable appropriate endorsement based on request and to cover wide range of professions, skills, and areas of expertise and a platform for reciprocating in line with diplomatic practices globally.

Babandede said, “Visa is not free, payment is done online.  Biometric capture is carried out at the point of issuance and due diligence is observed in a manner that will not compromise national security and in line with International best practices.“

The Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali, in an interview with journalists said all goods are banned from being exported or imported into Nigeria for effective control of goods that come into the country.

He said, “All goods, for now, are banned from being exported or imported through our land borders and that is to ensure that we have total control over what comes in.”

The spokesman for the NCS, Joseph Attah,  said the “present phase” of the border closure would end on January 31, 2020, adding that it would not be the end of the border closure.