The Nigerian Immigration and Custom at Nigeria -Benin Republic border have complained of Human trafficking, infrastructure decay, multiple taxation and check points, lack of electricity, water and Internet connectivity.
They laid the complaints during a meeting between members of the security agencies and a delegation led by the President of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Dr. Omar Touray at the border.
The Controller of Customs at the border, Dr. Ben Oramalugo said electricity was available five years ago but stopped. He said that importers were avoiding the border because of multiple taxation.
“It’s even Benin that is giving us light. But whenever they take their light, their Nepa light, we don’t have light again. So we are also appealing. They said there was Nepa light here about five, seven years ago. But it stopped. We don’t know the reason why. So please, help us also in that area”.
“Now another challenge we have is double taxation. Normally goods coming from Benin are supposed to be on transit. And the importers are supposed to pay a token fee as transit. But in Benin, they insist that we must pay duty. And in Nigeria here, they also pay duty. So many of the importers, they are avoiding this area because of double taxation. And it doesn’t give room for robust economic development. I’m also appealing to you, sir, to use your good office to talk to both sides so that we can have a stable economic relationship. So that the internationally known rules of transit will be employed in the transaction between Benin and Nigeria”.
He also complained about language barrier and suggested deliberate efforts in that regard.
“I cannot even interact with my custom colleague on the Benin side. Because I don’t speak French. And the same problem with them. As the president of ECOWAS, you are kind of a leader in ECOWAS. We can institute a policy where all the countries within ECOWAS should be learning English and French. Make it compulsory from primary school to university.
If you don’t pass French at primary level, you cannot go to secondary school. If you don’t pass French at third level, you cannot go to university. Yes, because it’s the only way we are passing this institution that will come to work in this Abidjan corridor. But if you come with the knowledge of French, you’ll be able to interact. Then there is also another solution to it. In the Nigeria Customs Service, there should also be a policy if you want to be… They will ask you to go and train for three months at French village here”.
The Controller of Immigration, lamented that all the scanners installed in various positions of the border had not functioned since installation, pointing out that the challenge had caused delays in service provisions.
“We have scanners installed in that place, but they are not working. You can use your good office to make sure that these scanners start working. Because there are things that human beings cannot see. Scanners can see. Because when you are bringing a carton from a truck, what you do is a random examination. You cannot open all the cartons.
And drugs can be hidden in those cartons. Those ones, you do not open. The scanners will see them. So I am humbly appealing to you to appeal to whatever authority that is responsible to make sure that those scanners are working”.
Responding, the permanent representative of the Nigeria to ECOWAS, Ambassador Musa Nuhu stated that President Bola Tinubu had set up presidential task force to dismantle multiple check points under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Federation.
He described the Seme border as critical to the ECOWAS free movement agenda.
“This is the busiest border in West Africa, in terms of passage of goods, people, and services,” he stated. “And if free movement is working in West Africa, it is in this border that we will be able to find out.”
Ambassador Nuhu noted that the challenges raised by local officials—including infrastructure decay, overlapping security checks, and operational bottlenecks—highlighted the gap between policy and implementation. “It’s good that they mentioned these issues for you to really understand practically what is happening along this very important border.”
He also revealed that the Federal Government had taken steps to independently assess and reform the corridor. “Not quite long ago, we carried out the same exercise along the border without even the officials here knowing, for us to really take note of what is going on.
“President Bola Tinubu has just approved the setting up of the Presidential Task Force to dismantle multiple checkpoints in the whole country. We are starting with the Seme-Badagry corridor. That committee has been set up under the authority of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and we will soon start worki
Meanwhile, the President of ECOWAS, Dr. Omar Touray gave an assurance of addressing various challenges impeding trade and movement within borders of members States.
“I think my last visit was 16 years ago, in a different context. But this visit gives me the opportunity to see the progress we have made in the field of free movement of goods and people, and also the challenges we have to face. I think it is very edifying what I have just seen, what I have just heard, either from Nigeria or from Benin, and also the different reports that the Ambassador and the other Directors have given me on the different issues”.
“First of all, I would like to salute the authorities, especially the high authorities of Nigeria and Benin, for their willingness to improve the free movement of people and goods in our sub-region. And I would also like to thank the different services that are here, that work to implement the different agreements of the ECOWAS. I am happy to see the poster just opposite the ECOWAS, and to see that, on the one hand, there is a lot of hope, but at the same time I am a little disappointed to see that there are a lot of facilities, a lot of equipment that does not work”.
President Touray expressed disappointment over the infrastructure decay at the border which had impacted negatively on free trade and movement.
“It is disappointing because when I see them, I notice that they are not cheap facilities, they are quite expensive facilities. So if we have them, they must continue to work. So that is a question that I have noted well”.
“And secondly, I see the work just opposite the two countries. It makes me happy to see that a passenger can leave this gate to go to the other gate in a much simpler way. I am reassured that we may have to improve, but the base is there and the will is there”.
“We do hope that the challenges we are facing here can be resolved and enable us to replicate this elsewhere. Since this morning, we have observed a number of things. Before arriving here, I had the opportunity to interact with transporters, road users, corridor users”.
“We’ve also had the opportunity to interact with the officials on the road. And we’ve listened very carefully. I think this mission is for us to listen to you, the officials, the road users, corridor users, and report back to our authorities with some strong recommendations that will work in favour of our community”.
“It is a pleasure to see this joint border post. It is a structure that has a lot of potential, but it is at the same time disappointing to see that a number of facilities that have cost us a lot of money are not working. That we must admit’.
“We can’t continue to have expensive infrastructure of this nature and not having them working. That can’t work. That can’t be sustained”.
The ECOWAS President explained that the visit had created an opportunity to have a first hand information about the situation at the border and devise possible solutions.
“So this visit has enabled us to really have a good idea and report back and see how we can address these challenges. Because I don’t think the community will forgive us for having infrastructure in place that should really be working at an optimal level. And it’s not even working”.
“It’s unfortunate. So we will have to dig into this and see how it can work. I think the problem I have noticed, you have the mechanical side as well as the human side”.
“Perhaps it might be easier to handle the mechanical side, because that is a question of fixing what is not working. But then the human side is what we need to work on very closely. And that is the number of checkpoints that we have on our corridors within our countries”.
“I’m happy to hear the Controller of Immigration, Controller of Customs and Controller of Police. Some of us who are not specialists ask questions like, if there is a controlling point at the border for customs, why would we have the same customs in the countries on the corridor? Perhaps we need to reflect on this and see how we can make life easier for ourselves, because this would mean you are deploying more people. It would also mean a lot of stops for ordinary citizens”.
“So how do we streamline these things? These are some of the challenges that we as a community need to work on without compromising the security of our countries. Security must not be compromised”.
He insisted that all monies collected as revenue must be receipted to encourage transparency and integrity.
“The second thing also is, while you check passengers and road users, we should go beyond these charges of being asked to pay money without receipts”.
“If there are any payments to be done, those payments should be officially receipted. And this will give our people a lot of assurance that we are working for them. It’s one thing to ask somebody to open their bags and then investigate and check, but a totally different thing to ask them to be paying money which are not receipted”.
“So these are all challenges we have noticed, and we have spoken to road users, we have spoken to drivers, we have spoken to you too, and our people should also understand that free movement does not mean no documentation. I think we need to make that clear. It’s against the security protocols that we have put in place”.
The ECOWAS President emphasized the need for sustained dialogue with members States towards addressing the challenges facing the sub-region.
“We hear that, and we will look into these things. One of the lessons we have learned from here is, perhaps going forward, we will have to have more dialogue with member states”.
“Because infrastructure of this nature is supposed to be put in place by ECOWAS, but the maintenance should be assured by member states. This is extremely important. When we build something with lights, if a light bulb does not work, we should not wait for the ECOWAS to replace the light bulb”.
“This is a discussion we need to have with our member states, with our member states, so that the responsibilities are well placed for the future. But I would like to conclude by thanking you for this opportunity you have given to the Commission, and also to Ambassador John, who is our permanent representative, who lives in Kotonou, and of course we have our ambassador who also lives in Ghana, Ambassador Ghana, and Ambassador Nuhu, who represents the KOREP. This is an opportunity for us to see clearly what we need to improve, because we can do nothing if we cannot circulate easily”.
“But there are conditions that we need to respect. Not something I import from a third country and expect that to move freely within the community. So we need a lot of sensitization that we will have to embark on”.
A Nigerian commercial driver with a private transport Company, Joseph Dibang,
said extortion, harassment, and delays are common during cross-border trips. “From Nigeria to Ghana, it takes us 12 to 13 hours because of unnecessary stoppages.
“When we are returning, they disturb us less, but going, it’s a nightmare,” Dibang told Touray.
He described how border officials across Togo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire demand unofficial payments.
When asked whether receipts were issued for these charges, Dibang responded bluntly, “No. Nothing. It’s all under the table.”
On the issue of passenger identification, he said transport companies try to enforce documentation requirements. “We ask for ECOWAS passports or NIN for Nigerians, and the Ghana card for Ghanaians,” he explained. “But some people still travel without valid documents. We have had to make arrangements with immigration officers and pay extra for such passengers.”
Touray raised concerns about that practice, saying, “Given the security challenges in the region, I think transporters should also insist on picking only passengers who can be identified. We all have a role in ensuring regional security.”
Adding to the frustrations, a Beninese driver explained how regional integration policies are often ignored. “We congratulate you, Mr. President, on ECOWAS’ efforts,” he said. “But the reality is, your decisions are not respected at the ground level.”
He highlighted how in Benin, some reforms have been made. “There is no more police fraud internally. But the ECOWAS electronic system, the mechanism for sealing goods and vehicles hasn’t started here. When our vehicles go to Côte d’Ivoire, they are fined heavily, even if everything is in order.”
“While ECOWAS says there should be free movement of people and goods, we see the opposite.”
