… as host communities request reopening of border, reduction of check points
The Acting Comptroller General (CG)of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, has harped on the need for every citizen to join hands in achieving national security, stressing that it is a collective responsibility.
Adeniyi who was speaking on Friday at the grand reception given to him by the Seme Customs Command and the host communities was responding to the demand of the communities for the reduction of check points on the Badagry-Seme expressway, as well as reopening of the border to importation of vehicles, rice and other products.
He stated the necessity for a symbiotic relationship with the host communities to check smuggling and other illegal acts of crime in the area. The CG tasked the communities on confidential information that could fish out perpetrators of crimes saying they are among them and equally known by them.
Adeniyi obliged the communities of their request to reduce the multiple check points on the expressway acknowledging that it constitutes a menace. He therefore assured that the checkpoints along the Seme borders would be rationalised in conjunction with other security agencies.
His words: “It is going to be a symbiotic relationship that would be beneficial to all of us. By the time this is done, we can now start discussing allowing vehicles to come in through the borders.
“We can now start considering allowing food to also come in through the borders if we cannot have enough capacity to feed ourselves.
“These are conversations that would happen within us when we have gotten assurances from the communities that they would be ready to assist the agencies in doing their job.
“Before I came here, I had received communications from the Area Controller, he had reflected on a number of the burning issues which is the source of concern for the communities here.
“The list is very long, but the most important is that we want to enhance our national security, we want to do it with fewer number of checkpoints. We get your message and we would be doing it with other security agencies to see how we can rationalise the checkpoints.
“I also want to challenge you that national security is not the responsibility of these government agencies alone, this is the difference between us and our counterparts in West Africa, national security is the business of every citizen, and all strata of the society treat it as a priority.
“So, it should not be the business of only the security agencies. So, as we make life easier for business, I want to charge you also to make life and the work of our security agents easier.
“The criminals live among us, those importing arms and ammunition live among us, they operate within our precinct, what you can do to help our national security is to help us with information and intelligence for us to catch these criminals visiting mayhem in our communities.
“If the security agencies can do the job with accurate intelligence from you, then, we might not need these checkpoints again.
“Like I promised, I will engage other agencies when I get back to Abuja to see how we can streamline these checkpoints.
“The borders were closed but not all of them were reopened, we have already started discussions along this line. Policies that are aimed at enhancing national security are supposed to be dynamic policies, at different times we would be reviewing them.
“We have started reviewing them. That was why some borders were opened about one year ago. It is a continuous process, more would still be reopened along the line.
“However, everything depends on the kind of report that gets to the government about the capacity of the local community to support law enforcement agents so that criminals don’t infiltrate through these border areas,” he said.
Also on ground to welcome the Acting CG in the carnival-like reception were the importers, clearing agents and truckers.