By Stephen Ubanna

More  facts have emerged why Mohammed Aliyu, Comptroller Seme Command embarked on the fencing of the expansive  land owned by the Command which land speculators over the  years had sold to unsuspecting victims and another part taken over by the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, for use as their own park.

one of the reason for fencing the land is to give it a facelift as an international route. Another reason was to keep the environment  clean as it ought to be clean to attract foreign investors coming into the country for the first time through  the land border station.

A Deputy Comptroller, from the Command, who   spoke to the Magazine on  condition  of anonymity disclosed that  the initiative  to secure the Customs land  because  the whole area looked untidy  like the old Oshodi   which was very rowdy  abnd a hide out for Criminals.

Given an insider information, the  officer said the Comptroller had given the occupants three months to quit the land  after a series of meetings with the Community leaders. He disclosed that the illegal occupants knew they had no case as they voluntarily removed their make shift houses without waiting for the Command to bring bulldozers to pull down the illegal structures erected on the Customs land as they  may have been told that the 1976 Land Use Decree gave the entire land to the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS.

The Customs land was said to have started  from the boundary between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, precisely at the area where the sign board ,” Welcome to Nigeria was placed”.   The voluntary removal of the illegal structures by the owners may have disappointed the Lawyers who were waiting in the wings to drag Customs Authorities to Court for forceful ejection of their clients from their land for their own use without compensation.

The Customs Authorities may have been encouraged to hasten work on the fencing of the land to catch up with the European Economic Commission, EEC and Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, international office Complex  project at the border town.

A visitor to Seme in the recent time would be surprised at the level of that had executed  by the contractor handling the project  as the fencing had gone far, almost linking up with the Customs Scanner Site at the Border Community.

Aliyu, the Comptroller was said to have visited the site on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, for the first, since the Contractors mobilized on site, accompanied by a retinue of  officers, armed to the teeth to access the level of work done in order to report back to the Customs Headquarters at Abuja.

There was  the initial  rumours that the reclaimed Customs Land , now being fenced would be used as a truck park by the Command to receive Containerized transit cargoes that would be trans-loaded into trucks that would go through the scanning and clearing process  at the  Command.

the treatment may have gained ground because of the treatment meted  to Nigeria Customs officers  and other agencies personnel including importers with their Clearing agents by the Banana Customs Authorities, who take advantage that the land is their own to do as they  like.

It was learnt that there are some fees which they collect from Nigeria importers  for trans-loading their Containerized cargoes  into trucks in the land  under the close watch of Nigeria Customs personnel but there is not much they can do.

Another officer, who spoke to the Magazine  explained that only Hameed  Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, NCS, would determine what the reclaimed land would be used for after the fencing and no one else.

Efforts to speak to Aliyu, the Seme Comptroller including visits proved abortive as he was said to have  barred dealing with  Agents   and Community leaders who call at his office at will than Journalists.  The reason for hobnobbing with Agents and Community leaders may not be far- fetched : to give them a sense of belonging.

Indeed, the Cordial working relationship between the Command , Agents and Community leaders may have provided a sane working environment for the officers . Many of the Community leaders were said to have turned to Customs informants leading to spectacular  seizures that had been made by the Command in the recent time.

It is not surprising why the Comptroller could boldly say  that ”sanitizing  of  the Lagos-Abidjan  Corridor  and facilitating trade in line with the Federal government executive order to ease the  process of doing business  and in line with  international best practice remains  his major focus.

He has stated that effective Interpol  collaboration  with the NCS and other Customs Administrations  in the sub-region  led to the arrest  and detention of over 50 exotic vehicles by the Command in 2017 alone.

Taupyen  Selchang, a Chief Public Relations officer and the Command spokes man  disclosed that the Command made a total of 270 seizures between January  and March, 2018. He placed the Duty Paid Valued, DPV, of the seized items at about N234 million.

The good news about the Command  was the overhaul of  the smuggling  of petrol  across the border thhrough the Owode outstation, thus correcting  the  ills of smuggling the product to Republic Benin  through the land border and the Creeks.

Selchang disclosed that the Command is always  gathering classified information on the berthing of some Consignments in Cotonou port, Republic of Benin, and other ports in the West African sub-region, that are prohibited, going by the government fiscal policy measures  but the importers were targeting Nigeria market as their final destination. This is in addition to about N1.58 billion collected as revenue  which was paid into the Federation Account  within the period.

By Stephen Ubanna

Muhammed Uba Garba, Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, is in deep pain. This is because he is yet to get a clue of the hiding place of Rasheed Abdusalam, a driver attached to the Command Lagos Roving team who was abducted by smugglers penultimate week while  on operation at Sango Otta, Ogun state.

Using his experience as an anti-smuggling officer before rising to the enviable rank of a Comptroller, he was said to have used all his contacts including utilizing the services of military and police  personnel in Lagos and Ogun states to search for the abducted Customs driver but no luck. Sources told  the Magazine that he had played hosts different times with to some military officers to rob minds on how fish out the den where the officer was detained by the smugglers.

The smugglers, a sorce informed the Magazine may  not have been concerned to use the abducted officer as a bait for the release of their  seized vehicles or rice by the Customs Authorities as they were said not to have contacted the Command on what their demand could be to facilitate the release of the officer, fueling speculation that they may have an ulterior motive to dampen the enthusiasm of Muhammed and his officers in the fight against  smugglers.

They may have gotten it wrong as the action of the smugglers to abduct  the Customs driver including the recent  impersonation of  the FOU, Zone A, Customs Comptroller in a Face book  account  by fifth Columnists within and outside the service may have failed. The two incidents happening at the same time may have been perpetuated by the daredevils ostensibly to  put Muhammed in the bad book of Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, as one who is not in effective control of his Command but pays attentions to inconsequential issues not related to the demands of his office.

The abductors of the FOU, Zone A, driver , in particular, may have  had at the back of their mind that their action would turn the table against the Customs nation-wide.

Joseph Attah, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs and National Public Relations officer, NCS, has assured the family of Abdulsalam , the abducted officer that there was no cause for alam. He was said to have told those that care to listen that plans on round  to rescue the abducted officer. This is because of the matching order that had been given to the FOU, Zone , Management to find him.  Describing Sango Otta axis  of Ogun state as a” den of smugglers”, analysts have advised  Customs teams on operations in the area to thread with caution for fear of losing any officer to smugglers who are always battle ready to face the Customs.

The Sango Otta axis  may  have earned the title due to the relocation of  most of the  dare devil smugglers previously operating  from Seme axis to the area as a result of the tough anti-smuggling measures put in place by Mohammed Aliyu, the Comptroller of Seme Command. The Sango Otta  axis, according to a retired Customs officer who at one time or the other had led patrol teams  at Seme, Ogun and FOU, Zone are very sophisticated in their operations and could do anything to get back at Customs who they see as their greatest foe.

Given an insider account  to the circumstances that led to the abduction of the officer,  he disclosed  that it was a fallout of FOU, Zone A, officers operation in the area.  He confirmed that the operation was based  upon intelligence report on smugglers activities in the area.

The Command , Lagos Roving team led by Jack Okpabi, a Chief Superintendent of Customs, described as very” fearless  and rugged officer”, who had  had led may successful  anti-smuggling operations  resulting in the seizure of trucks load of rice and exotic vehicles , he said had left with his team to the scene of the smugglers operation at Sango Otta at about 9:10 pm.

Contrary to Abdulsam’s family claim that the team were ill-equipped for the operation,  the Customs National PRO,  said  the team were accompanied  by soldiers  in an branded bus and a branded Toyota Hilux van that was driven by the kidnapped officer.

Atta averred  that the smugglers  may have had  their way  because they laid an ambush  against the FOU, Zone A,  just after  the South African  retail,Shop Rite located at the busy Lagos- Sango Otta Express way.

An Okada rider plying the Sango- Otta, axis , told The Source that the smugglers , turned kidnappers escaped with ease because Jack’s men could not release their bullet  for fear that it might ignite fire because there was a nearby filling state close to the retail shop and a tanker was said to be discharging fuel at that that time.

The Okada rider praised the Customs team for exercising restraint in handling the situation, noting that  if the leader had given his trigger boys order to shoot at the smugglers, stray bullet would have hit at fleeing  innocent people.  He  said the abducted officer may have played into the hand of the smugglers as he tried to save the  driver of the bus  with the team who was in great danger of being killed by the  smugglers as the officers armed to the teeth had disembarked to pursue other smugglers  within the town.

He noted that if the officer that led the operation had known in advance that one of his men was missing, Sango Otta and its environs would have being This is con on fire, confirming what Attah, the Customs PRO said that the team members only got to know that one of their Colleagues was missing after the dusts had settled as he could not be accounted for.

The auto -bike rider fears that there might be element of sabotage  as the number of smugglers that showed up to challenge Customs team within  short a time was unimagined.  Indeed, Attah’s revelation of the Customs plans to rescue the abducted officer may have led to rest Abdulsam’s family accusation of  Customs Complacency in the abduction of their son.