Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), said the major challenges faced by the service is that border communities gang up with smugglers to fight officers, kill personnel  and burn their vehicles.  

The NCS boss added that this happen because the boarder communities do not have any feel of government, so, they believe that they owe allegiance to the smugglers.

Ali made this known to the House Committee on Customs and Excise on Thursday.  

He stated that the NCS was not present in some parts of the Northeast, especially the area covering Yobe and Adamawa states.

According to him, the Army has requested all para-military personnel to withdraw from the area to allow the military take charge, pending the return of normalcy.

“We are currently taking some steps to make sure that those who are able to smuggle rice and other prohibited items do not profit from them. That is why on an occasional basis, we carry out raids on warehouses and market stores where these illicit things are stored.

“I must say this: the borders of Nigeria are long and porous. From Badagry to Mfom, there is no way 15,536 officers will block those entrances, even if we deploy everybody in the service. During the dry season, from Seme to Mfom, it is porous and motorable and motorcycles can move freely. There is no way we can eliminate smuggling.

“Secondly, most of these communities do not have any feel of government. We have used our resources to sink boreholes and build clinics for them, even though there is an agency created to ensure that these people get a feel of government. These people (communities) do not feel they owe allegiance to the country.

“Our biggest problem is that these border communities gang up with smugglers to fight Customs officers. They burn our vehicles, kill our officers because they don’t have any feel of government. So, they believe that they owe allegiance to those smugglers because they give them employment,” he stated.