In a move that is aimed at putting an end to the constant cases of accidental discharge by its officers, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said on Thursday that it has commenced training of 8, 000 officers of the service on weapon handling.
The service also said that it is involving Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate its operations, just as it added that it is working towards making the nation's entry points business- friendly.
Assistant Comptroller General in charge of Zone ‘A’ of the service, Kaycee Ekekezie said this disclosure during a visit to the headquarters of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) in Apapa.
She also said that with adequate training, coupled with the involvement of ICT, cost of doing businesses will be reduced.
"The Nigeria Customs, knowing the importance of making entry points used-friendly have been making significance improvement on that regards"
"We have also involved ICT process to facilitate genuine trade and it will also reduce the cost of doing business coupled with adequate training and I want to ads retraining of its personnel”, she told her guests
On arms carrying, the ACG said, "in fact right now we are training over 8, 000 officers for arm handling, how to carry arms. So that after that training, there won't be accidental discharge anymore, officers will know how best to carry their arms"
She however said that the enforcement unit of the service is well equipped to ensure compliance.
"In terms of security, our enforcement units are well equipped to secure lives and property and ensure compliance. The service has also played the role of an arbiter between the freight forwarders, government, shipping companies, terminal operators amongst others as the case maybe"
Ekekezie however reiterated that the service will be incomplete without the collaborative efforts of freight forwarders.
"It is important to note that the functions of the Nigeria Customs will not be complete without the collaborative efforts of freight forwarders as we all know you are a major stakeholder in the import and export processes"
The Zone ‘A’ coordinator also lauded NAGAFF for providing a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.
"I thank the management of NAGAFF for providing a veritable platform for the Nigeria Customs Service and members of the NAGAFF platform to come together and rub minds, share views with the aim of helping one another to create a better business environment for the development of a friendly business environment for Nigerians. I also thank you for granting me the privilege of being here"
In his remark, the founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam said, there was need for constant dialogue with stakeholders.
"I would expect that constant dialogue with stakeholders should not be on request, for instance when CBN, increased the exchange rate, we expected that the customs will call us to inform us, but you didn't, constant dialogue with us will be a good one and I would expect that soonest", he advised.
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