As against the speculations in some quarters in the maritime sector that the newly-commissioned customs boats may have been abandoned, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that the boats are very much in use.
Recall that in September 2019, the Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hammed Ali (Rtd) led a delegations from Abuja to Lagos to commission the two customs patrol boats, Customs Pride and Group of Nine, but since then the boats seem not to be in use by the marine command service.
But reacting to this, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Western Marine Command (WMC) of the service, Mr. Emmanuel Tangwa, in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Apapa last week, denied the accusation saying that the command has been judiciously using the boats.
He said that why the boats are always parked at Marina jetty in Lagos is because that is where they anchor the boats and use it whenever they want.
“Are you saying that when we use the boats, we should not anchor it again, the place you saw the boat is the anchorage; when we use it we anchor it there. We have been using the boat and we don’t have any challenges. We have used the boat to make seizures and one of the largest seizures was made on the first use of the boat. Or are you saying we should not anchor the boats there again after using it, if you go to Navy, their vessels are there”
Also speaking on why the new Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Olugboyega Peters of the command didn’t use the boat when he went on a familiarization tour to Badagry on assumption of office, he said,
“Can that boat go to creek” we were going to the creek and from here to Badagry creek, that is why we didn’t use the boat, we only used smaller ferries the boat is used on the high seas. The water at Badagry is very shallow, that is why we didn’t use it” he concluded.
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