D/COMPT MAMMAN ALI HITS THE GROUND RUNNING; SHOCKS SMUGGLERS IN THE NORTH EAST WITH N120 MILLION CONTRABAND SEIZURE IN ONE WEEK
By Timothy Paul Okorocha
Combatting smuggling remains a critical issue to border security agencies across the world.
Smuggling business thrived in Africa over the decades, and this has made border security to attract profound attention in so many jurisdictions.
The development of entrepôt states in West African countries of Togo and Benin Republic has further encouraged smuggling in Nigeria. On daily basis, smugglers make efforts to bring licit and illicit goods into the country through both approved and unapproved routes.
The advent of Industrial Revolution also led to crimes that were associated with international trade. As the volume of international trade increased, the opportunity to move goods into and out of a country without adhering to the import and export laws, also spiked, giving birth to the activities of smugglers.
But their plans have always been made fruitless by operatives of the Nigeria Customs service, whenever they try to sabotage the nation’s economy through their nefarious activities. Consequent on this, the Customs Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD, has taken special interest in appointing anti-smuggling experts who can tame the activities of economic saboteurs nationwide.
At the North East axis, the Adamawa/Taraba Customs Acting Comptroller, Mamman Ishaku Ali has hit the ground running in less than one week of his assumption of office. Veering off from physical patrols to intelligence-driven operations in his area of jurisdiction, smugglers are now feeling the heat, as several of them are being smoked out on daily basis.
The new man on the saddle says that as a policy, for any seizure , there must be accompanying defendants. Transparency in executing the anti-smuggling war, to him, is sacrosanct.
Coming from the Operation Whirlwind, with requisite decade stint at the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU), Mamman Ali has proved in the last few days that the two states he superintends would no longer be a haven for smugglers of any sort.
He is not an office person, he is mobile, he is on the frontlines, combing the flash points. And that’s why he has harvested varieties of contraband worth more than N120 million within days. Almost 1000 bags of foreign parboiled rice at the command’s kitty, about 10,000 litres of Premium motor spirit (PMS). The Mubi-Sahuda corridor is constantly beamed with searchlight, when it comes to enforcement operations.
Other goods intercepted include foreign bar soap, foreign sugar, huge consignment of flour, etcetera.
Doubling down on his planned intelligence-driven operations, the command is currently making use of Close-circuit television system to track unwholesome activities around its jurisdiction, monitor officers’ operations with the required transparency it deserves.
The Customs Command intends to establish a Control Centre, which will serve as e-border system reminiscent of what obtains at some of operations of its sister agencies. This will ensure real time visibility on critical border corridors, and help in information sharing.
With the establishment of such tactical measures, it has technically assisted in fortifying its border enforcement operations, securing revenue generation mechanisms, modernizing its infrastructure, while achieving internal operational discipline.
Deputy Comptroller Ali believes that innovations have changed the world and that the customs can not be left behind.
Living up to his billing, he deposed at his taking over the headship of the command that ‘we must embrace modern and smart ways of carrying out our duties.
We must include the necessary legal and litigation procedures to serve appropriate sanctions against offenders, serving as a strong deterrent to future culprits’