Several communities on the Nigeria-Niger Republic border are currently gripped by uncertainty and fear of imminent war, with unbridled starvation and deprivation staring the residents in the face. In this report, AUGUSTINE OKEZIE and AHMED RUFA’I examine the dire situations in some of these communities
Already, the border communities have begun to experience severe hardships because of the economic sanctions imposed on the Niger junta by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders. Movements across the borders and within the communities have remained grounded to a halt, even as socio-economic activities and Cross-border trades, among others have been paralysed; with trade and commerce the worst hit.
Our correspondent who visited the border towns of Magama Jibia, Dankama and so on, reports that the people living in those areas are perpetually in fear of the unknown, and are experiencing starvation as well as crippled economic activities. Disenchanted by the development, residents of the Jibia-Magama Border Community in Katsina State have decried the decision of ECOWAS leaders to invade Niger to restore democracy.
According to them, the shutdown of the border has crippled their socio-economic activities in the area, making the youth jobless and encouraging street begging as the best option to survive the hardship. The resolution by the ECOWAS leaders has affected the livelihood of the Jibia-Magama Border communities; with many of them living in doubt of what may happen in future.
The Nation also observed that the Jibia-Magama Border has been shut down and that no vehicular movement is allowed in or out of the area, while several trucks were seen parked along the roads. According to our correspondent, individuals were seen on foot crossing to a nearby town to attend a local market in Dan Isah Community in the Nigerien territory. Also, local traders have devised means to manoeuvre their way into local markets to buy and sell just to survive the hardship caused by the border closure and fuel subsidy removal that has skyrocketed prices of commodities.
Although security operatives have mounted roadblocks on some of the illegal routes to check the excess of such movement, people still find their way into the communities and hinterlands because they can’t withstand the indescribable hardship. Alhaji Abubakar Magama, a resident in the local hinterlands told The Nation that they are not happy with the decision to close the border, which has rendered their youths jobless and terrified, causing hatred between them and the neighbouring Nigerien citizens.
He said: “We don’t know anything about subsidy before except now. All we knew then was that Nigeria had available cheap foodstuff, but the reverse is the case. No Nigeria can boast of eating one square meal a day or feed a visitor because of the hardship we face.
“The closure of the border has made things more difficult for us. We want the government to tell us if we are part of Nigeria or Niger Republic?”
Currently, a dark cloud of war is gathering over the Niger Republic. This followed growing chances that the armies of the ECOWAS member states might invade the Niger Republic soon. The current situation is sending shivers down the spines of many Nigerians living in communities along the Niger border. They are, indeed, apprehensive that if ECOWAS goes ahead to declare war on Niger, they too would be gravely affected.
According to them, going to war against Niger is needless; even as they maintained that Nigeriens are not just their neighbours, but also their brothers. Therefore, any war in Niger, they said, is akin to war against them because they share not only boundaries with them but also cultural and socio-economic ties. Instead, they advised ECOWAS to employ dialogue in resolving whatever issues they had with the junta that ousted President Bazoum.
The Niger challenge began on July 26, 2023, when the world woke up to the news of a military takeover led by a certain Abdourahamane Tchiani. The Army General sacked the country’s constitutionally elected President, Bazoum, and has placed him under house arrest since then. Since the Niger crisis began, ECOWAS, under the chairmanship of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been voicing its displeasure at the development, stating that it would have none of the coup plotters’ acts. It wants Gen. Tchiani to stand down and hand power back to Bazoum.
But that is a tale the Tchiani team and a cross-section of Nigeriens don’t want to listen to. So, they have remained unyielding. Left to them, ECOWAS’ demands were merely gaseous. Therefore, at the moment, the Nigerien coup plotters are resisting ECOWAS and calling their bluff. They have even called out the vocal ones among them to first remove the timber in their own eyes before turning to Niger.
Earlier, the ultimatum ECOWAS handed down to the new Nigerien military authorities to hand over power had ended without any impact. “They are calling on the governments of ECOWAS member states to avoid war between the Niger Republic and ECOWAS which will have detrimental effects on both sides who are brothers.”
Nigeria Customs and border communities
The Nation recalled that at a recent visit to Jibia Magma Border Town in Katsina State, the Acting Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashiru Adewale Adeniyi vowed to enforce the official directive of President Tinubu regarding the closure of Nigeria–Niger Border in compliance with ECOWAS mandate. Adeniyi, who began the unscheduled visit at Illela in Sokoto State and arrived at the Customs Border Station, Magama – Jibia, Katsina State, told reporters at a stakeholders’ meeting at the event that his men will comply with the Federal Government’s directive on the total blockade of Niger Border with an unwavering mission in mind which is to help secure peace, security, trade and good governance across the African sub–region. The Customs boss further vowed in a speech that the operatives of the Customs and other sister agencies would keep the Nigeria–Niger Border closed down as ECOWAS and other world leaders push for the return of democratic governance in the French-speaking neighbouring country.
In an impassioned address made against the backdrop of Tinubu’s recent emergence as ECOWAS Chairman barely weeks after his inauguration as Nigerian President, Adeniyi described Tinubu as not only an asset to ECOWAS’ quest for free movement of goods, trade and people across the sub–regional body but also a testament to the ECOWAS leader’s enduring commitment to trade and commerce. The Acting CGC, after addressing members of Jibia stakeholders and reporters further commended the total blockade of all border posts and other entry or exit points in the affected states until another directive to reopen the border is given.
He was accompanied on the tour by top brass of the service, including the Katsina Customs Area Comptroller, Mohammed Nurudeen Musa. The major impediment to the enforcement of the Presidential directive however, as envisaged by opinion moulders in the state remains the perennial misunderstandings and clashes between men of the Nigerian Customs Service and their host communities at the border areas which had often hindered the implementation of government economic policies and programmes.
Most political and economic watchers in Katsina State strongly believe that the successful enforcement of the Federal Government’s directives and policies, including the present one, requires cordial bipartisan relationship among the Nigerian Customs Services, the host communities and the businessmen that ply the routes. Meanwhile, the Katsina State Governor, Mallam Dikko Radda has expressed concern over the poor relationship between personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Jibia business community. He urged them to harmonise their economic partnership for economic growth in the border area.
At a town hall meeting with the Jibia business community and Nigerian Customs to renew efforts in ensuring sustainable peace in the area, the governor urged the Customs Service to ensure more surveillance on the border between the Magamar Jibiya-Niger, instead of focusing on Katsina-Jibia Road where the movement of goods is mainly for local consumption. The governor also pleaded with traditional rulers, members of the business community as well and security personnel in the area to work together to ensure peace and harmonious co-existence in Jibia and its environment. Jibia has been a border town between Nigeria and Niger Republic and it has experienced a series of misunderstandings between the Nigeria Customs and the business community that often resulted in loss of lives while chasing smugglers along the area.
Customs boss seeks cooperation of border communities during visit to Katsina
The Acting CGC assured that the decision to close the borders was a temporary measure taken in response to current events in Niger. He emphasised that the closure affects multiple borders within the ECOWAS region and that the Nigeria Customs Service will work to sensitise the affected communities to the reasons behind the decision. Responding, the Katsina State Deputy Governor, Farouk Lawal expressed his support and congratulated the Acting CGC on his appointment, wishing him a successful tenure.
During the visit, the Acting CGC also assessed the level of compliance with the border closure order at the Customs Katsina-Jibia Outstation. He interacted with the residents of the border area and stakeholders, urging officers to sensitise the communities to the rationale behind the closure. The stakeholders present at the meeting assured the CGC of their compliance and support throughout his tenure, as they understand the importance of maintaining a stable and secure atmosphere for meaningful economic development in the country.
Katsina residents condemn war with Niger
In Katsina State, Nigeria shares two prominent border posts with the Niger Republic, namely Jibia in Jibia Local Government Area and Kongalam in Mai’Adua Local Government Area. The two border posts exclude several other illegal routes designated through which residents of the border communities conduct their social and economic activities.
Several Nigerians living at the borders do not envisage any ECOWAS war with the Niger Republic. “There isn’t going to be any war,” Umar Sale, a resident of Jibia told The Nation during a chat. This is because we are brothers and sisters with our neighbours in Niger Republic.”
Apprehension among residents of Dan Isa, Jibia
Despite the aura of mixed optimism in Katsina, not a few residents of Dan Isa, a semi-urban settlement near Jibia have remained apprehensive several weeks after the military putsch in Niger Republic as well as the threats of an imminent war. Most shops in the area have been shut, businesses grounded for lack of goods because of the closure of the borders.
“If there is war, we are likely going to suffer some of the effects,” Saidu Mohammed, a resident said. Mohammed also feared that “this is a border town which Nigerian troops will go through to prosecute the war. And the ones from Niger Republic will also come here; then we will be caught in the middle.”
‘Nothing can separate us from the Nigeriens’
However, despite that economic activities are grinding to a halt along the Nigeria-Niger Republic border due to the sanctions imposed on the military junta by ECOWAS, smuggling activities have surged at an alarming rate. This illicit trade involves numerous parties from both the formal and informal sectors. The situation in the border communities of Jigawa State, situated between Nigeria and Niger, is particularly dire. Virtually no one has been spared from the adverse consequences of the border closure and the sanctions imposed on Niger Republic as a result of the military coup in the country.
Women, children, youth, and men are already experiencing the repercussions of these sanctions, with hundreds of them losing their jobs and sources of livelihood. The Niger military junta has significantly bolstered security along their border, preparing for any potential ground attack from ECOWAS and aiming to prevent any crossings into their country. Meanwhile, Nigerian security forces have closed the main border entry points and conducted round-the-clock patrols on pedestrian routes to ensure that neither goods nor people pass through.
The border communities around Maigatari and Babura in Jigawa State view the sanctions on Niger as a collective punishment, as they consider the people of Niger to be their blood brothers, business associates, and good neighbours. They have also voiced strong opposition to ECOWAS’s threat of using military force to reinstate a constitutional government in Niger, deeming it illogical and unnecessary. “If ECOWAS used military force against the juntas, it would be a single action with too many unending consequences and we would be the first casualties,” said border communities.
The local population is deeply concerned about the potential prolongation of the situation, fearing it could lead to an increase in criminal and terrorist activities in the area. They are particularly worried about their young men, who, due to losing their businesses as a result of the sanctions, might be tempted to join such groups. There’s also apprehension about the influx of weapons, akin to what occurred in Libya and Afghanistan. The imagined border between Nigeria and Niger is incredibly porous. These communities share virtually everything in common, including farmlands, markets, intermarriage, culture, tribe, and religion. Some communities even have their graveyards on the Niger side, and vice-versa.
As the situation intensifies, it has become apparent that the local population is increasingly involved in smuggling activities. The secretary of the association of cattle sellers Maigatari Market, Alhaji Muhammad Duwa said the removal of fuel subsidy has affected their business and now with this crisis and the subsequent sanction imposed on Niger Republic, everything has been crippled in their market and the area.
“Today we are no longer what we were in the past; the sanction has disconnected us from our main business partners. Niger people brought livestock to our market and in retune they buy foodstuffs and other essential commodities from us, but the sanction has completely cut off the transaction. We are all in a critical situation. Anything affecting Niger affects Nigeria; they are suffering from sanctions as it is biting harder on us. We are calling on the Nigerian President to put the interest of Nigeria first before that of ECOWAS. He should not allow the use of military power, because Nigeria will suffer the consequences more than any other West African country. What the Niger military did is wrong, and I am sure they have no peace of mind now; so let us not repeat the same mistakes by using military force to crash them. This will not solve the problems,” Duwa stated.
Ali Dan’uku, a commercial truck driver residing in Maigatari Town in Maigatari Local Government Area of Jigawa State revealed that he and his four children relied on the truck as their primary source of livelihood. However, with the sanctions imposed on Niger Republic, they have all become redundant, and the routes they have traversed for over 15 years are now closed. He explained, “I have only ever visited Kano and Kaduna states in Nigeria, but there isn’t a single state in Niger Republic where I haven’t delivered goods. Our border communities have stronger commercial ties with Niger than with Nigeria.
In Babura, the hometown of the Defence Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, the local people expressed concerns about the actions of the federal government. They called on the federal government to reconsider its decision without further delay. Those who spoke to our reporter emphasised that they did not support the military junta in Niger, but they were more concerned about their social and economic lives, as well as the well-being of ordinary people in the Niger Republic who were also suffering due to the sanctions. Reports from the area indicate that smuggling activities are on the rise, with many people engaging in this illegal trade either because their legitimate businesses were affected by the sanctions or because smuggling has become more lucrative.
Another individual, one of the motorcyclists involved in the smuggling operation, volunteered to speak to our reporter but requested not to have his name or picture published. He said: “Frankly speaking, we are pleased with the current situation. It has relieved us of the hardships we endured due to the fuel subsidy removal, which caused serious difficulties. Before this, many of us couldn’t afford to eat three meals a day. Sometimes, not even one meal every day, and we barely made ends meet. With the current development, we are now able to buy enough food for our families and even save some.”
