President Bola Tinubu has commanded the immediate reopening of Nigeria’s air and land borders with the Republic of Niger as well as the removal of additional sanctions imposed on the country.
This was revealed in a statement released on March 13 by Ajuri Ngelale, the President’s Special Advisor on Media and Publicity.
According to him, the instruction complies with the decisions made by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government during its extraordinary summit that took place in Abuja on February 24, 2024. The presidents of ECOWAS decided to remove the economic sanctions against Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and the Republic of Niger during the summit.
The President has ordered the immediate lifting of the following sanctions against the Republic of Niger:
(1) 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.
(2) Suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between Nigeria and Niger, as well as a freeze of all service transactions, including utility services and electricity to the Niger Republic.
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(3) 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.
(4) Suspension of Niger from all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly EBID and BOAD.
(5) Travel bans on government officials and their family members.
Additionally, President Tinubu has given his approval for the Republic of Guinea to have its financial and economic sanctions lifted.
ECOWAS placed a number of sanctions on Niger Republic after President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown by a military coup on July 26, 2023.
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