By Stephen Ubanna
In spite of efforts being made by Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Customs Comptroller General, CGC, to give the Customs Area Controllers at the nation’s Interventionist Units Customs Command the nation’s seaports, not much appears to have been achieved in the recent.
The Customs CGC, who was said to have provided the various Interventionist Units across the country with the necessary working tools including operational vehicles, particular, in the north western states of Sok./ Zamfara Command, which oversees the anti-smuggling operations in the two north wstern states, Kebbi Command and Katsina Command, under the close watch of Compt. Abba-Aji Idris, appear to be active in Jibya Border route and other approved routes in the state where they could collect duties but losing to Bandits in the areas of anti-smuggling operations.
There was a recent incident concerning one of the Command patrol teams which had gone out on operations and intercepted 37 bags of 50Kg each of foreign par boiled rice in Dutsin-ma Local Area of the state were but were accosted by alleged Bandits who were said to have insisted of being given seven bags of the impounded bags of rice to save our lives. The officers were said to described their encounter as a big risk.
The Leader of the Patrol Team, whose name remained a closely guided secret had said that they had obliged the Bandits their request to avoid been attacked as the heavily armed criminal elements were not ready to accept any no from them as they were surrounded by tens of them.
The message is very clear that the Bandit groups in the north western state of Katsina, home state of former President Muhammadu Buhari are making things difficult for the Customs anti-smuggling officers in the state.
The were said to have made the Customs anti-smuggling operations in the 34 Local government areas of the state much difficult for the officers as they aid and abet the smugglers for a fee. The situation is so worrisome as some of the Patrol team officer make a U-turn when the smugglers in the bush to avoid any confrontation with the criminal elements.
The situation in Katsina is replicated in Sokoto state. An insider had confirmed that despite the installation of the N52 billion border surveillance system across the nation’s land border areas by the then Buhari’s Administration that was said to have been launched in the state 2019.
The first phase of the project valued at about nine billion naira was said to have been started at he Illela ,a border, between Nigeria and Niger Republic, in 2024, by the Tinubu’s Administration, which was said to have been extended to Araba, Damba, Sabon -Gari, Garu and Kalmalo to closely monitor the movement of goods and services in and out of the country.
Other Sokoto Local government areas where the automated border system was said to have also been extended are Darna Tsolawo, Tozai, Gidan, Katta, Gidan Hamma and Rungumawan Gatti local government areas of the state but not much appears to have been achieved as smuggling appears to have become worse with the Bandits taking the lead.
Going by the operations of the e-border system, it ought to provide real-time 24/7 monitoring and intelligence, enable better tracking and management of Border activities but had failed to check illegal smuggling of prohibited goods including light arms into the country.
There is no gain saying the fact that even with the introduction of the e-border system in Sokoto state, there had been a steady increase in number of smugglers bring in illegal goods into the country from the Republic of Benin due the absence of due to tangible barricades mounted by Customs personnel demarcating the borders of the two countries.
This may have informed why maritime analysts had seen the e-border control system as a white elephant project of the Buhari Administration like the botched Nigerian Airways.
Many had expected that with the synergy between the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Immigration Service, which officers were trained for the operation of the e-border system at Illela and other Local government areas in Sokoto State, the agency personnel would have been able to work closely with the Customs anti-smuggling officers to effective track smuggled goods , particular foreign rice and fairly used vehicles into the country but that is yet to be seen.
Perhaps, Ogun I, Seme, Oyo and Osun Command, may be accommodated in the second phase of the e-border facility project to help contain the activities in the south west geopolitical region.
For now Comptrollers Muhammed Shaibu, Area Controller Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A,Wale Aenuga, Sem Command and Godwin Otunla, Ogun, appears to be putting in the best of their efforts to contain the foreign par boiled rice and fairly used vehicle smugglers within the 94 illegal routes in Ogun state and Seme border Jurisdictions but that was how far they could go.
Many believes that most of the Interventionist Units area Controllers may have tactically withdrawn from close monitoring of the activities their respective Commands’ various Patrol Teams as their names are included among the 53 Customs Comptroller who will bow out from the Service in 2026 on the mandatory age of 60 years or 35 years as spelt out in Civil Service Rule.
Let us hope that the CGC and Headquarters Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, EI&I, officials , would beam their searchlight to what is what is currently happening at the Land border Areas , across the country, particular in the Commands, in the north western region to avoid a mockery of the Service-anti-smuggling operations.
