The Federal Government has expressed commitment to tightening security at the nation’s seaports, airports and land borders, saying it will not allow anyone or group to flood the country with arms.
Minister of Interior and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Improvement of Security Operations at Nigeria’s Ports, Abdulrahman Dambazau disclosed this during the inauguration of the 11-member committee in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Dambazau, “The task before us is crucial to the progress of the country as economic security is an important guarantee of internal security and a measure of our success as a government”.
He said the committee, which has a duration of eight weeks to turn in its report, would “assess the present deployment of personnel from different agencies working in the airports, seaports and land borders with a view to reducing their size to what is absolutely necessary”.
The committee is to also identify the most vital agencies and desks needed for efficient operations and their appropriate locations within the ports.
Other terms of reference are to recommend measures to promote ease of doing business at Nigeria’s ports, while ensuring maximum security according to global best practices; to sensitize all personnel working at Nigeria’s ports and the general public on the new policy and practice of doing business at all Nigeria’s ports and borders in strict compliance with international best practices.
Aside Dambazau, members of the committee are the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, as well as heads of the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Nigerian Ports Authority, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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