The challenge of policing Idiroko’s many exit points,by Customs boss

The fresh impetus by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to stem illegal
trades at Idiroko border is yielding positive results in various ways.
The Command recently made spectacular seizures of band items including
petroleum products and bulldozer excavator. When Sunday Vanguard
visited the border, it was observed that specific communities like
Ipokia, Ajilete and Owode where the people were volatile, as smuggling
was so prevalent, had experienced relative peace in the last seven
months. Also, the point where officers check movement of border
traders at the major entry line between Nigeria and Benin Republic has
been repositioned. Two traditional rulers at Ajilete, who commended
the new initiative, attributed the success to constant enlightenment
of the people on the dangers of smuggling and in-depth study of the
region by the current controller. The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of
Ogun Command, Comptroller Prince Ade Dosumu, speaks on the new
development, the award on innovation transformation and revenue
repackaged control, presented to him by Centre for Development and
Movement Strategies in Africa , in conjunction with Freight and Energy
Watch.
Though synonymous with various economic activities, Idiroko has porous
border points with volatile communities. What steps are you taking in
policing the region?
Obviously, the border line between Nigeria and Benin Republic is one
strategic business arena that many entrepreneurs cannot do without.
One of the challenges is that the border has many exit points but we
have alsorenewed our security network to tackle the issue. Though I am
not going to reveal details of our operational strategies but NCS now
is intelligence driven. As such, we operate with intelligent network
at all times. For instance, we had numerous meetings with traditional
rulers and community leaders at the grass root to foster a smooth
working relationship with the communities. So, we started by creating
an enabling environment free of hostility to enable us work
effectively to generate morerevenue for government and facilitate
trade, which is our primary duty.
We set up Excise Monitoring Team in the Command to ensure total
compliance with the unit cost analysis on excise from different
factories within the region. So, with the new strategies, we are
blocking all lope holes, even as we are getting maximum cooperation
from border communities in policing the region. This is evidence in
our revenue recordsfor the period under review. For instance, our half
year report from January to June 2013 shows that over N2.2billion was
realised as revenue against N1.6 recorded same time in the previous
year 2012. Theanti-smuggling operation is on top gear, as 645 seizures
with the DeputyPaid Value (DPV) of over N618million were recorded in
the half year 2013, as against 537 seizures with DPV of N297.8million
made the same period in 2012.
The progressive difference in DPV of the seizures accounted for the
quality seizures made by the Command this year. These seizures include
motor vehicles, rice, frozen products, shoes, textile materials, used
tyres, apparels, Indian Hemps and several others. Within the same
period, we impounded a 40ft container laden with 3,500 cartons of
frozen poultry products, a Mercedes Benz 911 lorry laden with 640
cartons of the same frozen products, along Lagos/Shagamu Express.
What uncommon trend of smuggling have you uncovered in the Command?
We recorded spectacular seizures of petroleum products and bulldozer
excavator. We arrested one Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep recovered from
suspected armed robbers, who after exchanging fire with our operatives
escaped into the nearby forest along Ayetoro/Imasayi axis of the
Command. Others include 498 cartons of assorted wine, 434 cartons of
body cream, 64 cartons of soaps and 57 sacks of Cannabis with
estimated monetary value of N3million, which were handed over to
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officials in Abeokuta.
The Centre for Development and Movement Strategies in Africa in
conjunction with Freight and Energy Watch, honoured you with award on
innovation transformation and revenue repackaged control, for out
standing performance. How do you describe the award?
First of all, we thank the organisation for recognising our efforts in
working tirelessly to curtail smuggling in the Command. We attributed
thesuccess recorded in the Command to the current Customs management
under Comptroller General of Customs, Inde Dikko who provided us with
operational tools and the motivation to carry out our statutory duty
effectively.
What measures did you put in place to revamp the Free Trade Zone (FTZ)
in the Command, after being inactive for a long time?
Our target is to ensure that the FTZ is resuscitated to function
optimally,in order to achieve the intended purpose for which it was
established. When fully utilised, it will boost revenue generation for
government to stimulate economic growth and development.