Benin Republic Laments Nigerian Border Closure

Dozens of baskets brimming with newly-picked tomatoes gently rot in the sticky heat, becoming the latest casualty in a bout of trade tension between Benin and Nigeria.

On August 19, President Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly closed Nigeria’s borders to goods trade with Benin and Niger, declaring the time had come to end rampant smuggling from those countries.

In Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour to the west, traders say the impact has been devastating.

“This is a distressing sight,” Agriculture Minister Gaston Dossouhoui said this month, visiting markets in the town of Grand Popo, one of the main agricultural communities of southern Benin.

“It’s very difficult for our producers. It’s a disaster.”

“Financially speaking, Benin’s small producers are under water — they’ve already had to run up millions (of CFA francs) in debt,” said Adjeoda Amoussou, head of Benin’s Chamber of Agriculture.

Buhari defended the closure by saying Benin and Niger — Nigeria’s neighbour to the northeast — had failed to police their borders properly, and chronic smuggling was the result.

“The borders will remain closed until our neighbours control what goes through the borders and comply with the laws,” warned Hameed Ali, comptroller general of the Nigeria Customs Service.

The move immediately caused a shockwave.

Unilateral border closures go against all commercial and freedom of movement treaties signed under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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