Managing Land Borders and Smuggling of Food Commodities in Saki South-Western Nigeria: Socio-Economic Implications

Abstract

Border is one of the most visible signs of the sovereignty of a state on its territory. In
spite of the resilient efforts of Nigeria’s border security agencies to ensure the
safeguarding of Nigeria's territorial sovereignty, smuggling remains unabated and its
dynamics is characterised with strong link between the smugglers and itineraries. The
main objective of this paper is to examine the socio-economic effects of smuggling of
food commodities from Republic of Benin to Nigeria through Okerete borderland
route, Saki. The methodology used for the paper involves descriptive survey design
while interviews were conducted among the patrol teams of custom officers in Saki,
and secondary sources such as journal article, internet materials and current situation in
the country serves as sources of data collections. The paper concluded that the spate of
smuggling of foods commodities mostly rice and frozen foods across Saki borderlands
has undermined income generation, rule of law, social vices in the communities,
uncontrolled market economy and price fluctuation of commodity like rice and
vegetable oil, health deterioration from these substances, and encourage drop-out (child
abuse) in these communities.

Keywords
Border, smuggling, food commodity, border management