Nigeria, 2 other countries form a joint team to monitor activities that will facilitate the reopening of the closed borders

The team will comprise officials from the police, customs, immigration, navy and other state security services of the three countries.

The decision was contained in a communiqué issued by the ECOWAS Tripartite Anti-Smuggling Committee following a meeting on Friday, November 15, 2019, in Abuja.

The Joint Patrol Team have scheduled to hold its first meeting on the 25th and 26th of November this year.

The team has been tasked to, among other things, evaluate and manage the situation at the borders, and recommend a reopening.

At the meeting, the three countries also agreed to establish a Monitoring and Evaluation Committee comprising their ministers of Finance, Trade and Foreign Affairs, as well officials from their security services that will work to suppress the smuggling of goods to and from these countries going forward.

The delegation from Benin and Niger after the meeting appealed to Nigerian authorities to immediately reopen their borders.

However, it is not clear if Nigeria is convinced with this agreement which is being facilitated by ECOWAS Commission for Trade and Industry to reopen the borders before the January 2020 timeline.

If reopened, it means the millions worth of goods belonging to Ghanaian traders stuck at those borders could make their way to their destinations.