You Can’t Reopen Already Open Borders, Tunji-Ojo Tells Atiku

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has told former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that Nigeria’s land borders are already open and therefore cannot be reopened.

Tunji-Ojo’s statement came hours after the presidency, through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, dismissed Atiku’s claim that he would reopen Nigeria’s borders if elected president in 2027.

Dare had described the claim as misleading, saying the Federal Government reopened most land borders on March 14, 2024, and had not reversed the decision.

Reacting on Saturday, Tunji-Ojo said the claim that Nigeria’s borders were closed overlooked the different reasons some border crossings had been restricted at various times.

“As the Minister of Interior who supervises the Nigeria Immigration Service being an agency of government in charge of border and migration management, it is expedient to state that Nigerian borders are not closed and so cannot be reopened,” he said.

The minister said Seme, Illela, Maigatari and Mfum borders were reopened on December 16, 2020.

He added that Idiroko and Ikom were reopened for goods and services on April 20, 2022, while Kamba and Tsamiya border posts in Kebbi State were reopened under the current administration in February 2026, linking Nigeria with Niger Republic and Benin Republic respectively.

Tunji-Ojo also responded to Atiku’s reference to Nigeria’s borders with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic, explaining that some of the border restrictions, particularly along the Cameroon border, were imposed for security reasons and were not part of the 2019 trade policy.

He said the Banki and Amchidé crossings were closed in 2014 because of Boko Haram attacks and reopened in 2019, while Fotokol and Gambaru followed in 2021 after joint military and stabilisation efforts by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

“The prolonged closures on the Cameroon border, at Banki and Amchidé, did not arise from the 2019 trade policy at all. They date to 2014, when Boko Haram forced their closure for security reasons, and reopened in 2019, with Fotokol and Gambaru following in 2021, after joint military and stabilisation efforts by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad,” he said.

He said treating the different instances as one continuous border closure wrongly conflated trade regulation with counter-insurgency.

“Folding this separate, security driven history into one continuous 2019 shutdown misrepresents two distinct issues, trade regulation and counter insurgency, as a single failure,” he stated.

The minister acknowledged that not every northern crossing was fully unrestricted, saying tighter controls remained in place in areas affected by banditry or residual insurgent activity.

He said such restrictions were security decisions intended to protect traders and border communities.

“Modern border management is not a choice between total closure and unrestricted movement; it requires security, documentation, customs compliance and controlled trade facilitation together,” he added.

“Political competition should not become a competition to rewrite recent history. If he has a new border proposal, he should set it out and explain how it differs from the current approach, rather than treating separate trade, security and infrastructure issues as one and the same.”

Earlier on Saturday, Dare had also argued that an open border did not mean an uncontrolled border.

He said Nigeria’s border policy was designed to facilitate legitimate movement, trade and economic activity while preventing terrorism, arms trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking and other transnational crimes.

Dare also cited the reopening of the Kamba border in Kebbi State by President Bola Tinubu on February 14, 2026.

He challenged Atiku to explain which existing border controls he intended to remove and what safeguards he would put in place against transnational crimes.

“What Nigerians deserve is not a slogan about ‘opening borders,’ but a detailed explanation of how border surveillance and security would be improved,” said the presidential aide.