The Ag. Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service; Adewale Adeniyi has banned personnel of the service from pursuing smugglers to markets and residential areas
This is even as he called for a strategic partnership between Customs and the Oyo state government in the fight against smuggling.
The Ag. CG of Customs made the call when he visited the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Lawal, on Monday as part of his visit to the Oyo/Osun command of the service.
Stating the purpose of his visit, Adeniyi noted that smuggling threatens the security of the nation, hence, it should be a matter of concern for all tiers of government.
He said, “It is important for us to call on the state government to partner with us in this fight against smuggling, particularly around the border areas”.
“We believe that the time has come for us to work closely with each other, strengthen our partnership, and understand ourselves better so that we will know that we are working towards a shared goal of national development and security”, he added.
In response, the Deputy Governor urged officers to exercise discretion while chasing smugglers and pay more attention to criminals who import arms and ammunition.
“More attention must be paid to criminals who import arms and ammunition. If you’re able to catch criminals attempting to import arms and ammunition into the country for illegal purposes, that will save more lives”, he said.
In his address to officers and men of the Command, the Customs boss charged them to be responsible with their weapons when carrying out enforcement duties.
He was received by the Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba.
Speaking to the issue of weapon handling in the nati-smuggling operations, Adeniyi told the officers and men of the command to be “reminded that under our SOP, these weapons are only meant to be used for self-defence when you come under attack”, he noted.
“Never must we hear stories about you chasing smugglers into high residential areas or in the market”, he warned.
