The Senate on Tuesday indicted the Comptrollers of Customs in Kaduna, Katsina and Ogun (Idiroko area) states for the jettisoning rules of engagement in the use of firearms.
The indictment was contained in a report submitted to plenary by the Senate Adhoc Committee on Abuse of Firearms by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The report laid by the chairman of the committee, Senator Ade Fadahunsi, established that traders and non-traders are being made to obtain unofficial receipt before allowed passage with legitimate goods and it was also established that disbanded strike force of Federal Operation Unit shot at innocent citizens, raided markets and chased smugglers into towns which always led to loss of lives.
The Senate therefore asked the Customs Comptroller General to investigate issuance of unofficial receipts at the nation’s borders by officials of Nigeria Customs.
Fadahunsi while presenting the report, which was unanimously adopted by the Senate, said the Federal Government should lift the 20km ban on sales of petroleum products in border communities.
“The Federal Government should direct the Comptroller General of Customs and Heads of other security agencies to, as a matter of national inclusion, reduce the multiple checkpoints mounted along the corridors of border communities. This will enable the free flow of goods, especially farm produce, in, around and out of these communities to the main towns and around the markets in the border communities.
“The Comptroller General of Customs should investigate and review the alleged issuance of unofficial receipts to traders and non-traders in Jibia and Mai’adua, Katsina State by officials of Customs and other security agencies. This act has caused untold hardship to people living in these communities, as moving of goods (farm produce) across major markets and even to Katsina town and other neighbouring states is a herculean task.
“The Comptroller General of Customs should redeploy the Comptrollers of Kastina/Kaduna and Idiroko Area Commands, and appoint replacements who should establish a good community engagement programme. This will create a healthy relationship, make the Customs realize its mandate without being insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the communities in the state.
“The Federal Government should lift the 20km ban on sales of petroleum products in border communities. This policy is a threat to peaceful coexistence, a denial of the people to belong to the larger Nigeria society and a serious cause of hardship in these communities.
“The Federal Government in making policies, should put into consideration the ancestral bond/relationship that exists between the border communities in Nigeria,” the report reads in part.
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