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Benin, Nigeria launch joint border patrols

    ABIDJAN

    Beninese and Nigerian police on Thursday began joint patrols along a 70-km stretch of their border in a bid to stamp out armed cross-border crime, news organisations reported.

    The operation was launched by the two countries’ interior ministers. Nigeria has donated six police cars equipped with radios to the joint patrol team and two others to the Beninese police, PANA said. The patrollers have also been issued bulletproof jackets, AFP reported.

    Citizens of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to which both countries belong, are allowed to travel without visas within ECOWAS. Criminals have taken advantage of this to expand their areas of activity, police in Benin and Nigeria say.

    Inspector-General of Police Musiliu Smith said in Lagos that operations offices would be established in each country to coordinate the activities of the patrols, ‘ThisDay’ reported. Both police forces would also be involved in crime detection, according to the Lagos daily, which reported Smith as saying that he planned to extend the patrols to Nigeria’s other borders - with Niger and Chad, to the north, and Cameroon to the east.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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