Anti-Smuggling: How We Deal with Saboteur Customs Officers in Our Mist, by Customs Boss
FOU CAC, EJIBUNU
By Francis Ugwoke
The war against smuggling is laced with a lot of risks and challenges in different forms for operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Acting Comptroller of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A, Ikeja, Deputy Compt. Hussein Ejibunu, has said.
Among the challenges include in-house sabotage and external forces who have been in the habit of master-minding attacks on some officers on the field to wage war against smuggling.
Ejibunu told members of the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers who visited him that his Unit had suffered recurring attacks which led to the death of some officers in the past.
He said in carrying attacks on officers, some people fail to understand that the operatives on the field were just doing their jobs assigned to them by the federal government.
He disclosed that from within the Customs Unit also faces sabotage from some of its own officers.
Although he did not disclose the nature of the sabotage, Ejibunu said what the Unit does on discovering such people was to quickly recommend their transfer to other units.
He explained that failing to send them to other units was capable of affecting the anti-smuggling operations and the target.
Asked about other measures other than just sending them to other units, he said such officers are usually put on the watch-list of the Customs Headquarters for heavier disciplinary measures.
“From within there are saboteurs. There is no organization that does not have it. It is not peculiar to us alone. There are some people that are not on the same page with you. Your target may be different from their own target. And so when you have that internally, you have to deal with that fully before you can have your bearing.
“For such people, I have to make sure they are posted out of this place because anybody whose interest is antithetical to what we are fighting for, that person has to give way. Some of them, we made sure they are not around this territory again.
“Apart from posting them out, they are disciplined. When they are posted out, the Service has what you call watch-list, they put them on watch list. They will remove you from where you think you have a safe hand to do whatever and put you where they will be monitoring you. If you do anyhow, they bring out your dossiers.”
Ejibunu was full of commendation for the Comptroller-General, Retd Col Hammed Ali for supporting the Unit in the anti-smuggling operations.
He revealed that within a space of four months, the Unit had received 21 brand new vehicles, including an ambulance.
He also said that the Unit has been well equipped with all necessary logistics to make the job better.
For instance, he said the Unit has enough helmet, bullet proofs, arms and ammunition”.
On assuming office, he recalled that what he did was to visit stakeholders, including traditional rulers and opinion leaders to seek their support in the war against smuggling.
According to him, the idea was to give them the message that the officers were simply implementing the government order on enforcing laws as far as trade is concerned.
“I told them the federal government message. The government is for all of us. It is not for one person. In as much as we voted for these people to be there, they must succeed. If they introduce policies, our own is to implement, why then do you come to hack down our officers for implementing policies that are for everybody. It is unheard of. That is one daunting challenge”, he said.
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