By Stephen Ubanna
The National Assembly on Customs appear to have taken their personal dislike for Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel and Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, for not doing their bidding to work against the Organization in all its ramifications.
Only last year the House Committee on Customs had begun investigation over the alleged extrajudicial killing of four indigenes and injuring of one in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo state. The Gbajabiamila led Hose of Representatives may have taken advantage of the probe to ask the Committee ‘’to review the rules of engagement of the NCS, as it related to the usage of guns.
The House was said to have also directed the Committee ‘’to ensure adequate Compensation for the families of the victims and adherence to the rule of Customs officers not exceeding 40Km from the borders with the neighboring West African and Central African sub-regions.
The FOU, zone A, anti-smuggling officers may not have deliberately shot at the smugglers at the Iseyin axis but were in pursuit of a sport utility vehicle, SUV, conveying bags of foreign parboiled rice, 50 Kg each, before the accidental discharge of the bullet to force the smugglers to abandon the vehicle and take to their heels but were not lucky as it the occupants.
The situation was not different from the incident in Jibia town of Katsina state where ten persons were feared dead and 20 others injured after a Customs anti-smuggling Hilux Van rammed into people by the roadside. Note that Jibia is a border town between Nigeria and Niger. The anti-smuggling officers were said to be pursuing a J5 Peugeot bus perceived was used by the occupants to smuggle foreign par boiled rice into the country but the driver lost control of the vehicle.
.Recall that that the National Assembly Committee on Customs, particular, the Senate had made several attempts to force Ali, the Customs Comptroller General to appear before it over the activities of his men in Oyo axis of south west Nigeria.
In one of the invitations Muhammed Uba Garba, an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Enforcement, Inspections and Investigations, at the Customs Headquarters and now overseeing Customs Zone B office, Kaduna, was said to have represented the Comptroller General at the meeting.
The invitation concerning the killings in Iseyin local government area of Oyo state was said to have been attended by Kihinde Hussain Ejibuno, a Deputy Comptroller, overseeing the FOU, Zone A, and Jack Okpabi, an Assistant Comptroller and the then Officer in-Charge of the Command Lagos Roving, and who was among the 18 Headquarters officers that were sent back last December to pave for the resident officers to grow on the job.
Many believe that nothing good would come out of the House Committee on Customs, chaired by Leke Abejide, report. This is because the Committee of the general House have already told them what to do: ensure Compensation for the victims of the Customs extra-judicial killings in Oyo and Katsina state.
The Committee may have already made up their mind on what to do with the NCS, based on the contents of their report. The Committee may not have failed the general public impression about what will come out of their report. The Committee had recommended for the consideration of the Femi Gbajabiamil led House the payment of N390 million as Compensations for victims of what they had described as ‘’extrajudicial killings in the south west of Oyo and North West state of Katsina states.
True to the mandate of the Committee of the general House, the Customs he Committee which turned in its report on Tuesday February 1, 2022, had recommended that the families of the deceased should be Compensated in monetary terms of 20 million each and two each for those injured.
Abejide, the House Customs Committee Chairman o appears a bit emotional while presenting the report as captured on Channels Television. He had said that they probed the unrest in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo state due to the killings of indigenes by men of the NCS.
He had said that the number of persons killed in the area were four, meaning that the total value of Compensation for them would be N80million only. The Committee had reported that for the person who obtained gunshot wound in the Iseyin incident should be Compensated with the sum of Two million , thus bring the total Compensation that would be paid out by the Ali led Customs to the alleged victims of extra-judicial killings by Customs anti-smuggling officers in Oyo state alone to N82 million.
While the families of the deceased Iseyin indigenes are to enjoy N20 million each, the had recommended that the Ali led Customs should also make provision for to pay additional N20 million each to the families of the 10 persons by the roadside when Custom anti-smuggling vehicle ram on them and Two million as Compensation to the 13 persons who sustained injuries.
The worry of many was why the House Committee on Customs should be concerned about the accidental discharge of Customs bullets which hit at unsuspected targets instead of condemning the continuous mob action against Customs personnel in the discharge of their duties.
Last September, some smugglers had killed an Customs Assistant, 1, driver, attached to the FOU, Zone A, during a an operation, after two vehicles laden with smuggled parboiled rice were seized at Owode, Yewa, south local government Area of Ogun state and transferred to Lagos. This is just one of the too many killings of Command officers pe in Ogun state and other parts of the country by angry mob, aiding and abetting smugglers.
The question on the lips of most people was that if Ali, the Customs Comptroller General, who has the mandate of the Katsina state born Nigerian President to mobilize his men to ensure that no Contraband enters or leaves the country’s officers are regularly killed by angry mob for carrying out their legitimate duties, who will the Compensation to the families of the deceased.
This is where Abejide, and fellow House Committee members may have to do a rethink on matters involving the NCS a national Institution , working to save the country from being a ‘’dumping ground of foreign manufactured and contraband goods that would kill the Local industries and throw many people into the unemployment market.
