The Kano Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said on Tuesday that it had adopted a community-based approach in the ongoing fight against smuggling in areas under the command.
Alhaji Sambo Dangaladima, the Area Comptroller of the command, comprising Kano and Jigawa, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) in Kano.
The area comptroller said officers at the border areas had been briefed on how the partnership would assist them in arresting smugglers.
“We have deployed various strategies to enable us get vital information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of smugglers,” he added.
According to him, the aim is to encourage Nigerians, especially those living in border communities to offer intelligence reports that could aid the command to apprehend smugglers.
He expressed optimism that the involvement of border communities would greatly assist officers of the service in protecting the nation’s economy from the activities of saboteurs.
The comptroller urged well-meaning Nigerians to support the NCS to protect the country’s borders, adding that well trained personnel had being deployed to strategic locations along the borders.
He added that all identified smugglers’ routes under the command had been placed on strict surveillance.
Dangaladima enjoined community leaders to also provide information that would lead to tackling smuggling activities in the area, assuring that such information would be handled in confidence.
