By Muhammad Sulaiman
Security experts have long warned that Nigeria’s porous borders are a major threat to national stability. This concern was echoed again when Dr Bulama Bukarti, a security researcher, lamented how almost anything can be smuggled into the country due to ineffective border control.
In reaction to Bukarti’s remarks, Dr Aliyu Yakubu Yusuf of Bayero University, Kano, shared a firsthand account that underscores the depth of the problem.
Dr Yusuf narrated that on a trip from Damagaran in the Niger Republic to Kano earlier this week, he sat in the front seat of a commercial bus and witnessed what he described as “a chain of extortion masquerading as security.”
According to him, as the bus approached the Babban Mutum border on the way to Ɓaɓura, he observed “so many annoying checkpoints,” sometimes only a few meters apart. Police officers, soldiers, immigration officials, road safety personnel, and customs operatives were all stationed along the route. Yet, none conducted any meaningful inspection.
“Each time we reached a checkpoint, the driver would simply pull out a one-thousand-naira note and hand it to an officer, then we would move on,” he said. Some officers even addressed the driver by name, apparently familiar with him as a regular traveller.
Dr Yusuf said the driver disclosed that there are 35 checkpoints between Damagaran and Kano, and at each one, he must part with between ₦500 and ₦2000, depending on the officials present. He estimated that drivers spend at least ₦30,000 during a single trip.
“Throughout the four-hour journey, not a single officer asked the driver to open his boot,” he added, expressing disbelief that such laxity exists despite Nigeria’s ongoing fight against insecurity.
His account reinforces concerns that many checkpoints serve as avenues for bribe collection rather than effective security screening—leaving the country vulnerable while motorists bear the financial burden.
“We are jokers, wallahi,” Dr. Yusuf concluded.