TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari says the fragility of Nigeria’s borders is a hindrance to the fight against terrorism and economic sabotage.

The president spoke on Thursday when he received Kunio Mikuriya, secretary general of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), who is in Nigeria for a global conference on fragile borders.

Buhari said the theme of the conference ‘Enabling Customs in Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations’, is of “critical importance” for Nigeria as the matter is the singular most concerning sub-issue in the country’s national security agenda.

“The fragility of our borders has been a major Achilles’ heel in our fight against terrorism, economic sabotage, and illicit flow of small and light weapons,” he said.

The president told Mikuriya that the government is making a number of efforts to combat the challenges of fragile borders such as the national security strategy which mandates the Nigeria Customs Service to support other agencies of government on fighting terrorism.

He said other efforts include support for the armed forces in launching operations to secure our borders; demonstration of a strong political will to support Nigeria Customs Service on security and revenue mandates; approval of the federal executive council for a new customs modernisation project on the integration of technology into border operations; and the ongoing effort to strengthen the Nigeria Customs Service and provide stiffer sanctions against smuggling and other crimes.

On the forthcoming general election, Buhari said he is committed to ensuring each Nigerian is able to participate in a free and fair electoral process.

“It is our objective to ensure this takes place in a peaceful and conducive atmosphere, despite all the usual excitement and gamesmanship that is known to occur during election campaigning,” he added.