The Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it has more than 75 functional patrol vehicles combing the nooks and crannies of the entire South-West region which includes Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo/Ekiti.
Spokesman of the anti-smuggling unit, Uche Ejesieme, a deputy superintendent of customs, stated this in Lagos against the backdrop of the recent claims of the Comptroller General of Immigration, David Parrandang that the country has over 1,400 illegal border routes.
Ejesieme said that the unit is not unaware of the expansive land mass of some of these states but maintained that the unit had stepped up activities in areas within its jurisdiction through the provision of patrol vehicles and other equipment by the customs management.
“We are aware that there are some unapproved places where some un customs goods come into the country but we are not leaving any stone unturned and we are also stepping up patrol activities in those areas.
“The Comptroller General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko Inde and his management team has (sic) been working tirelessly to ensure that all identified flashpoints are well monitored and kept under surveillance. He has done so much in the area of capacity building and in providing the necessary equipment including patrol vehicles that we need to police the borders. We are certainly on top of the situation and will not renege under any circumstance.
“The Controller of the Unit, Comptroller Nuhu Isa in his routine meetings with the patrol leaders, always speaks very strongly on the issue of border security. In fact in one of the recent meetings with them, he gave a marching order to d effect that zero tolerance must be placed on all illegal routes and consequently charged team leaders to enhance patrol activities,” he stated.
He said the security situation in the country would have been worse if not for effective policing of the border posts by customs personnel.
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