Many Stranded As Federal Government Closes Seme Border - Video

This is definitely not the best of times for travellers using the Seme Border as the border is closed. According to reports, travellers have decried what appears to be an unceremonious and unannounced closure of Seme Border.

Seme Border is a settlement in Nigeria on the border with Benin Republic, 30-minute drive from Badagry on the coastal road between Lagos and Cotonou.

Travellers attempting to come into Nigeria or leave the country on Wednesday complained that the border had been under lock and key for two days, “without official explanation.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a Twitter user, IPrint & Make Snapbacks, with Twitter handle @Onos_Tsf, noted, “I have been at Seme border for over seven hours and no official communication about the closure keeping us here.

“We need help/answers. We need to go home.”

Another traveller, Olatinwo Tolulope Samson, with Twitter handle @Hermie_Berries, laments, “Nigerian Government closes Seme Border without formal notice.”

He noted that “It’s been two days. No going in or out.

“That a nation can stop her citizens from entering their own country is ludicrous…”

In recent times, the Federal Government has shut land borders and airports during crucial national events such as elections and census.

The Federal Government reportedly shut Seme Border, which is Nigeria’s border with Benin Republic, on Tuesday.

The busy border was said to have been shut after officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) reportedly intercepted truckloads of tramadol and codeine shipped through the notorious border into the country.

The importation of both tramadol and codeine, which are highly abused substances among Nigerian youths, is prohibited by the Nigerian government.

There is no official statement either from the Nigerian government or its Benin Republic counterpart on the border closure, which remained in force on Wednesday.

Victims of the abrupt shutdown of West Africa’s main commerce corridor took to the social media to express ther frustration over the development.

A Nigerian traveller caught in the disruption posted a video of the hardship encountered by traders and commuters in the area on twitter Wednesday afternoon.
Watch the video below...

I have been at seme border for over 7hours and no official communication about the closure keeping us here. We need help/answers. We need to go home. Please share this with someone that can help @DrJoeAbah @segalink @nigimmigration @OgbeniDipo @Omojuwa @abikedabiri @NGRPresident pic.twitter.com/BdSWkhRgRM

— IPrint & Make Snapbacks (@Onos_Tsf) August 21, 2019