Of recent, there has been a resurgence of attacks on Customs officers, leading to some fatalities. The rising threat of smuggling across Nigeria’s northern borders has claimed the lives of at least five Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officers in a brutal string of attacks that have left dozens of others also injured in the last few months.
According to details provided to our correspondent by the NCS, within just five months; that is from April to August, these officers lost their lives in the line of duty while fighting smugglers at different border posts
The data gives the picture of the risks that Customs officers face daily. The fallen officers who were victims of smuggling-induced violence epitomizes the deadly risks in Nigeria’s fight against smuggling, as officers lose their lives while protecting the country’s borders.
The recent resurgence of attacks is shocking, because the last time it came in torrents like this was in 2016. And by November of that year, the Nigeria Customs Service had lost a total of 70 officers to attacks by smugglers, within and around their host communities.
The then-National Public Relations Officer of the service, Mr Wale Adeniyi (who is now the Customs Boss) while giving a detail account of how the Customs personnel died, explained that the officers were often attacked in the course of performing their legitimate duties. This is the usual practice till date.
However, investigations carried out by Shipping Position Daily confirmed that apart from the recent attacks in the northern part of Nigeria, there had been many in the southern part of the country too.
Sadly, the attackers who are smugglers and their border community cohorts often confront officers in the course of their legitimate duties.
Suffice it to stress that, among other statutory roles, the Nigeria Customs Service is saddled with the responsibility of ascertaining the correctness of imported and goods to be exported.
This is no doubt, a security and economic duty, which calls for the support of border communities, because it has been confirmed that there are well-over 1000 illegal routes leading into and out of Nigeria. The legal ones are manned by the Nigeria Customs Service, but the illegal ones and the adjoining routes are the theatre of confrontation between officers, smugglers and resident of border communities.
Apparently, buck-passing on the frequent face-off between officers and inhabitants of border communities, the service has often accused the border communities of aiding and abetting smuggling.
From the perspective of the Customs leadership, members of the border communities are complicit by protecting the smugglers, attacking and killing NCS officers.
We recall that, at a forum at the National Assembly to defend the 2021 budget of the Customs Service, the then-Comptroller General of Customs, retired Colonel Hameed Ali pointedly said: “But we cannot effectively police borders. We can only make efforts through the third tier to curtail smuggling. We need other agencies and the communities to help us. Until that is done, Customs is willing to do what it can to stop that.”
What that statement simply meant was that, personnel of the Customs are overwhelmed in tackling smuggling, and are blaming members of border communities for the menace.
The truth also is that, Customs officers are in the front line of attacks, and they are bound to also defend themselves in the face of attempts on their lives.
We are quite aware that, officers are often at the risk of attacks by smugglers and their cohorts. We know that some officers have been maimed, while some were killed in face-offs with smugglers.
So, we are in awe as to why there is always a huge cry whenever smugglers and their collaborators are killed by Customs officers; either in self-defence or in the pursuit of smugglers.
Some have argued that, Customs officers are only mandated by the law to arrest and arraign smugglers in their pursuit to protect national economic integrity. They also argued that, it is not part of their mandate to pursue smugglers to the town and they must not shoot ‘indiscriminately’.
Yes, extra-judicial killings are unacceptable. Yes, there is no justification on the part of Customs officers to shoot at defence-less and unarmed border residents and even smugglers. But we also ask: Should the officers fold their arms and watch while been attacked by smugglers and their cohorts? The answer is No!
We are perturbed at the disturbing silence that often greet attacks on Customs officers. The National Assembly members who take advantage of their positions as lawmakers to condemn Customs and even use their office to elicit the legislature to lampoon the NCS, are often quiet when the table turns, and Customs personnel are killed.
Yes, it is so easy to summon the headship of the Nigeria Customs Service to the National Assembly each time Nigerians are killed by Customs officers; mostly in self defence, it has always been quiet each time officers are attacked and killed in the line of duty.
We stand with the Nigeria Customs to say that Customs personnel’s lives also matter!
There is an urgent need for a comprehensive review of border security strategies. There is no doubt that the current security architecture at the various land borders is not adequate. It makes officers to be vulnerable to armed and organized smuggling syndicates.
It is also imperative that the Nigeria Customs Service should reinvigorate its border community relations machineries. It is obvious that the current approach has not worked.
