LAGOS, Nigeria, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Nigeria has closed its western borders with the Benin Republic, citing cross-border crime, BBC reported Saturday.
A government statement said the action was taken because of increasing smuggling and human trafficking.
The BBC said the main border crossing into Benin is not far from Nigeria's commercial capital of Lagos, where travelers and traders from Benin, Togo, Ghana and beyond normally throng.
After a period of deregulation, Nigeria, an oil producing country, now appears to be moving back towards a protectionist regime, the BBC said. The country no longer will import sugar, sweets, beer, school exercise books and envelopes.
Whenever Nigeria has imposed protectionist policies banning various imports, Benin has been the preferred way in for prohibited goods, the BBC said.
Imports at Benin's main port of Cotonou have risen sharply and its border area has become one vast market supplying Nigerian traders.
