Senate steps down motion to reopen Niger border

The Nigerian Senate has halted a motion that sought to reopen the Niger border urgently.

The motion was sponsored by Abdulrahman Sumaila, the senator representing Kano south senatorial district, during the senate plenary on Tuesday.

In August, the Nigerian government closed the border with the Republic of Niger following a military coup in the West African country.

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In his motion, Sumaila lamented that the continued closure of the border had caused untold hardship for citizens, crippled businesses, international trade, and caused billions of naira to be lost.

He also noted that the closure of the border was worsening insecurity.

However, Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, requested that the motion be stepped down until the senate obtains a security report and an update on the situation in Niger.

“As beautiful as this motion is, it has a lot of security implications. I want to appeal to you to step down for further discussions until you obtain a security report until we have more information from our security services,” he said.