The outgoing Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs (ACG), Zone ‘A’, Hammi Swomen, has called for the training and re-training of customs personnel in weapons handling.
Swomen, who made the call on Wednesday in Lagos during a ceremony to mark his retirement from service, said that with such trainings, personnel could adequately protect themselves from smugglers.
“There’s a need for more training, which tells me that there is also a huge gap in weapons training. I am appealing to the management to look into re-training officers on weapon handling,” he said.
He charged senior officers to mentor the younger ones on the customs’ core duties of revenue generation and suppressing smuggling.
“I am also commending the efforts of the present management on robust welfare packages, which means that officers redoubled their efforts to surpass revenue generation targets and reduce smuggling activities to the barest minimum.
“The only way we can reciprocate the management’s gesture is to redouble our efforts and embrace mentorship roles,” Swomen said.
The new ACG of Zone A, Saidu Yusuf, thanked the customs management for giving him the privilege to serve.
Yusuf described Swomen as a principled and attentive leader, who was always ready to resolve issues whenever it arose.
The ceremony was attended by various Customs Area Controllers including those of Apapa, Tin Can, Seme, Kirikiri, Lilypond, Federal Operations Unit Zone A and the commandant of Customs Training College, Ikeja.