– Plateau Bans Vehicles from Church Premises
EIGHT-FOUR posts to be known as ‘border plazas’ will be constructed in various border communities across Nigeria, according to the federal government, as the nation grapples with the onslaught of violence that continues to be visited upon Nigerians in flashpoints across the country.
Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, told journalists at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday that the Federal Government had also identified 1,497 illegal routes used by illegal immigrants.
“We have recently, in conjunction with the national boundaries commission, identified 84 routes which travellers to Nigeria use. We are thinking, as a starting point, we must be able to build these plazas in these 84 points,” he said.
“We have equally identified 1,497 irregular routes; that is how herculean the problem of securing these borders is. But daunting as the challenges, government is equal to the task because it is the primary responsibility to secure the lives and properties of its citizens.”
Moro, however, stated that the plazas would be built on Nigerian territory and not on the land of the country sharing the border. He added that no amount has yet been stipulated for the project, as the government was still deliberating on it.
“Seme border, for instance, is located in Republic of Benin and so enforcement becomes a problem. For instance, if there is a breach of our law at Seme border, we will be unable to enforce Nigerian laws because that part of land is in the Republic of Benin. So we are thinking of placing our plazas in our territories so we can tackle any breach,” he said.
The minister also noted that just like Nigerians, the government was concerned about allegations that members of the Boko Haram were actually foreigners who accessed Nigeria through its porous borders and hence its decision.
Meanwhile, after a marathon meeting held at the police command headquarters on Wednesday, the Plateau State government said that vehicles will no longer be allowed into premises of worship places, including personal vehicles of clerics.
The meeting also agreed that every vehicle must be checked before entering public buildings and called on the residents to cooperate and have their vehicles checked in line with the security situation so as to prevent unforeseen security breaches.
The meeting also harped on the need to educate residents at the various places of worship on vigilance and how to prevent bomb attacks.
As the meeting was going on, most parts of Jos remained tensed following a protest by students of the University of Jos which caused a stampede in many parts of Jos.
The students marched to the streets and barricaded parts of Bauchi Road for more than three hours. They were protesting alleged attacks on their colleagues the previous day.
President of the Students Union Government (SUG), Nanbol Amos, who spoke, said students had in the early hours of yesterday morning barricaded the Bauchi highway in continuation of a protest that started Monday night due to the alleged attack on two students.