The Task Force should also ensure that goods imported for Nigerian markets via the Port of Cotonou are escorted to the nation’s land borders.
Rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has written to the Economic Community of West African States to request an end to the smuggling of goods from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
He called on the commission to prevail on the Nigerian Government to end the illegal closure of land borders without any further delay.
The letter by Falana was written in reaction to a communique issued at the end of the extraordinary session of the Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS held on November 8 in Niamey, Niger Republic.
The letter read in part, “The commission should fast-track the deployment of the Task Force on Free Movement of Goods and Persons to arrest and prosecute the powerful smugglers operating in Benin and Nigeria with the connivance of a few unscrupulous customs officials.[story_link align="left"]75800[/story_link]
“The Task Force should also ensure that goods imported for Nigerian markets via the Port of Cotonou are escorted to the nation’s land borders.
“Finally, the commission ought to advise the authorities of Benin and Nigeria to ratify and domesticate the ECOWAS Convention A/P.1/8/94 on extradition.
“The ratification and domestication of the convention will strengthen both member states of the ECOWAS in curbing smuggling and other crimes.”