The Niger coup has been one of the most talked about topics around West Africa in recent times and the people never expected the dire situation presently confronting them, threatening their happiness and peace.
But the sad reality soon dawned on them, casting a spell of discomfort on them, and since then it has been lamentations galore. This came in the wake of the military coup in Niger Republic and the attendant closure of the Nigeria-Niger border, leaving residents of the border communities in Sokoto State, Nigeria stranded.
Over the years, these communities in Sokoto have been depending on goods and services smuggled into the locations from the loosely manned borders with Niger. But the story has since changed with the closure of the vast borders, which now restrict the free flow of the foreign products and services they had been enjoying before the coup in Niger. Presently, they are left wondering what will happen next as the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, now led by Nigeria’s president, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has threatened too deploy military force to flush out the coup leaders.
Worse hit among all the border communities following the border closure is the prosperous city of Illela, which shares boundary with Birnin Kouni in Niger Republic. It is the major route to Niger Republic and the place where Nigeria’s Customs Services, NCS, maintains a control post and uses it effectively to monitor the movement of goods and services across the two borders.
As a result of their proximity, the two neighbours in Nigeria and Niger Republic have been mixing freely and have a long history of inter-marriage, social interactions and business engagements despite the fact that they speak different languages. Birnin Kouni, a border town in Niger, speaks French language being a former colony of France, while Illela a Nigerian border town, speaks English.
Arewa Voice correspondent, who visited the border communities to assess the economic impact triggered by the recent coup and the subsequent closure of the borders by Nigeria, reported that commercial activities were brought to a halt immediately after the military takeover in Niger and the closure announced by Nigeria.
ArewaVoice also noted that the closure of the borders has led to the skyrocketing of the prices of livestocks and cash crops beyond the reach of the average family. One of the residents in Illela border town, Alhaji Isah Sarkin Alaru Illela, told AV that the recent coup has negatively affected the socio-economic dynamics of the area and added to their plight. He regretted that before the military takeover and closure of the borders, there was unhindered exchange of goods and services between them, including vehicular repairs, transportation, livestock trading and monetary exchange, which have all been abruptly disrupted.
A resident of Illela town and an importer, Alhaji Sarkin Alaru, described the situation in Illela and communities located along the border as horrible as people are now contending with hunger and abject poverty. Our correspondent saw a caravan of articulated trucks taking over the shoulder of the once busy motorway that connects Niger Republic to Nigeria through the border town of Illela Sokoto State. Our correspondent noted that as a result of the negative development, the faces of the truck drivers and their conductors who normally do business between Nigeria and Niger, told eloquent tales of anger, frustration and anxiety as they continued to wait for when the situation would change.
Niger. The ever-busy Illela, which boasts of an international market, has more or less become a ghost town, as forms of business and commerce have come to a standstill. A business magnate with many filling stations and plazas, Alhaji Bello Kwando, said there had been a reduction in business activities in the community. ”Our business activities have dropped drastically in this town since the border closure was announced. I am sure that you are aware that the border is the major thing that contributed to business activities here and now with the closure, things are not easy for us again,” Kwando stated.
When the acting Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, visited the border recently, he quickly asked the controller in charge of Illela border how the residents were adjusting to the closure of the border and the reply was shocking:
“The communities are extremely unhappy with the border closure, sir,” the controller of the Illela outpost replied.
It is left to be seen how far their anger and patience can endure as the coup in Niger takes a larger life than it initially was.
