3rd December, 2019
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the ongoing border drill in four of the country’s six geo-political zones has drastically reduced incidents of cattle rustling, kidnapping, armed banditry and other forms of insecurity in the North-West.
The Minister disclosed this at the Customs Border Station in Magama Jibia, Katsina State, on Monday when he led a Federal Government delegation on a visit to Sector Four (North-West) of the Border Drill, code-named ‘Exercise Swift Response’.
“The drill has drastically curtailed the inflow of arms and ammunition. Bandits and terrorists are finding it hard to procure arms and ammunition, hence we have recorded a reduction in cases of cattle rustling, kidnapping and armed banditry, which were predominant in the North-West Region,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said the arms and ammunition being used by violent extremists and criminal elements no longer entered the country through the land borders.
He also disclosed that the smuggling of petroleum products, which had also been prominent through the borders in the North-West, had been curtailed due to the closure of filling stations along the border.
“There are hundreds of filling stations along the border. We counted many as we drove to the border this morning. They were set up purposely for smuggling. They don’t sell the fuel consignment they receive to the public, 50% of them are owned by foreigners. Now that they are closed, we have recorded over 30% reduction in domestic fuel consumption,” the Minister said.
He said the Customs, which used to record about N4.5 billion as revenue daily, is now posting between N5 billion and N8 billion daily..
The minister said the North-West Sector, out of the four sectors affected by the drill, has recorded the highest success in terms of reduction of illegal migration as a result of the closure of the borders.
He clarified that the exercise was not targeted at any region in the country, neither is it designed to cripple businesses in any part of the country as being insinuated in some quarters.