Joshua Yousouph
Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Col. Hameed Ibrahim Alli (rtd) has commissioned 18 Patrol Boats to strengthen the fight against smuggling and other illegal practices along the creeks and waterways.
While addressing journalists at the commission ceremony on Thursday at Port Harcourt, Col. Alli noted that the 18 creeks patrol boats which consists of nine logistic support boats and nine gun boats with armored parts are geared against combating smugglers who choose the creeks and waterways as a safe haven for their illegal trade.
The Customs CG also noted that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) collaborated with a Nigerian company named “SEWA” which designed, constructed and built the Patrol boats.
He said: “Unlike before, we now have boats with flat bottoms that can access the creeks even when the water has receded.
“The addition of these boats to the Service Marine arsenal at a time when more smugglers are running away from the heat on land to water is simply the right thing to do.
“This event no doubt marks the beginning of a renewed offensive against those who chose creeks and waterways as safe haven for their illegal trade”
“In-line with Executive Order on Local Content of 2017, NCS tapped into the ingenuity of a Nigerian Company, SEWA to design, construct and build these edifices. As you can see, these boats are not only built with our weather and circumstances in mind they can compete with similar ones built anywhere in the world. The relationship between NCS and SEWA represents excellent examples of what Nigerians can achieve when we come together” Alli said.
Alli also stated that the boats will be deployed to the East and Western Marine Commands and charged the Customs marine operatives to use them judiciously in the interest of the nation, even as he sought for support and cooperation of well-meaning individuals and organizations to always give the Service credible information that will enable interception and seizures of smuggled items.
The Customs boss commended SEWA for delivering on their promise and promised to recommend them to individuals or organizations who may need what they are capable of producing.
“Let me state here that even with the best of working tools, NCS efforts will not yield maximum output, If Nigerians for which we work, do not give us needed cooperation. I therefore call on well-meaning individuals and organizations to give the Service credible information that will enable interception and seizures of smuggled items” he concluded.
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In his remark, Mr Murtala Mohammed, the Chairman of SEWA West Africa Limited, said that the unveiling of the SW27GB and SW23BC for the Nigeria Customs would help to facilitate their operations in the creeks and waterways in Rivers.
Mohammed said that the boats, built by SEWA West Africa Limited in Nigeria, were the Federal Government’s laudable achievement on the local content policy.
In his speech, Ian Appleby, the Managing Director of SEWA West Africa, said that all the boats were fitted with twin OBMs using environmentally friendly technology of 4-stroke engines.
Appleby stated that the boats fall into two class sizes 27ft and 23ft lengths and capable of reaching high speed for intercepting smugglers on the waterways.
He described the key features of the boats as ballistic protection, two general purpose machine gunboats, bullets resistant front wind screen glass, modern radar technology and depth transducer.
According to him, the series V gun boat also comes with an upgraded hull for increased stability and forward aft deck drains.
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