President Bola Tinubu has directed the reopening of Nigeria’s land and air borders with the Republic of Niger. He also ordered the lifting of other sanctions against the country with immediate effect.
According to Tinubu, this complies with the directive given by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) during its extraordinary summit in Abuja on February 24, 2024.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale made this disclosure in a statement on Wednesday, March 13, adding that other sanctions imposed on the West African countries have also been lifted with immediate effect.
”ECOWAS leaders had agreed to lift economic sanctions against the Republic of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea,” the statement read.
“The President has directed that the following sanctions imposed on the Republic of Niger be lifted immediately:
“Closure of land and air borders between Nigeria and Niger Republic, as well as ECOWAS no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger Republic. Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between Nigeria and Niger, as well as freeze of all service transactions, including utility services and electricity to Niger Republic.
“Freeze of assets of the Republic of Niger in ECOWAS Central Banks and freeze of assets of the Republic of Niger, state enterprises, and parastatals in commercial banks.
“Suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly EBID and BOAD. Travel bans on government officials and their family members,” the statement added.
