Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has raised alarm over last week’s closure of Seme border by the Federal Government over the influx of illegal weapons into Nigeria, saying that the sudden closure was already taking its toll on the manufacturing sector in the country.

MAN President, Mansur Ahmed, made this disclosure ahead of the association’s forthcoming 47th annual general meeting coming up in Lagos on Tuesday 3rd of September 2019.

He stated that complaints from its members have shown that there was the need for the government to have a second thought by reviewing the border closure to curtail the rising price of food and other items in the country.

Ahmed said that the association was already in tripartite discussions with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) and other relevant agencies of government in finding lasting solutions to the border closure, because of its multifarious effects on the country’s manufacturing sector and the economy as a whole.

The MAN president acknowledged that government was right in its punitive action against influx of weapons by justifying the border closure, but that there was no room for them to allow people doing genuine businesses to import goods into the country to contribute to the country’s growth and development.

According to him, Seme border was a critical point of entry for genuine importers and manufacturers of goods items, adding that lifting the ban at the Seme border for them was imperative for the growth of Nigerian economy.