CITIZENS COMPASS– Without bearing arms, operatives of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) attached to the Federal Operation Unit (FOU) Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos State have intercepted 2,000 bags of contraband rice and averted clashes in Ogun State.
The operation was in strict compliance with the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) and the Federal Government directives.
The contraband goods were intercepted from smugglers without records of clashes and firing gunshots at the illegal dealers during the operations across the southwest region of the country.
To avert bloody clashes with the smugglers around the country’s borderlines in Ogun and other southwest states, it was gathered that the FOU Zone A personnel often embarked on extensive intelligence gathering to apprehend the contraband dealers before approaching locations where the smuggled goods would be uneasy to intercept.
The enforcement strategy tagged Operation Swift String, as gathered, was introduced by the Comptroller for the Zone, Kola Oladeji, to reduce casualties on the side of the Customs and smugglers during operations around the borderlines; a strategy that has aided the law enforcement agency to seize over 2,000 bags of rice from smugglers without shooting smugglers.
Against media reports, this strategy was also adopted by the personnel around the Owode international markets in Ogun State after the zone received intelligence on smugglers’ operations from residents who suddenly discovered their presence.
Acting on this, the law enforcement officers stormed the axis to enforce the law but after discovering the goods were already inside the market, they immediately adhered to the rules of engagement set by the government including not retrieving the items from the traders who purchased from the smugglers but gathered enough intelligence that could aid seizing other illegally imported goods from smugglers without engaging in gun duels.
Aside from that, staying around the axis discourages smugglers from using the market as a link to connect traders in the country, particularly in the southwest region where the FOU Zone A operations are specified.
As learnt, the Customs presence around the market scared the smugglers who were said to have abandoned the plan to use the market as another route to trade their smuggled items after it became less active following the launch of ‘Operation Swift String’ barely a year ago, which has aided the agency to seize hundreds of rice bags, dozens of cutlasses, thousands of Donkey skins, drugs and many others from smugglers within the region without exchange of gunshots.
A Custom officer, who did not reveal his name because he was not permitted to speak, disclosed that his colleagues would not engage the smugglers inside the market, saying this will attract the wrath of the federal government and that citizens could sustain gunshot wounds during the clashes, an outcome they never wish to happen.
He added that the Customs operations were in strict compliance with CEMA and the government’s existing order that mandated the agency not to engage smugglers inside the market and after the goods leave a 40-kilometer radius of the country’s border.
Another officer added that the era of customs, particularly those attached to FOU ZONE A, in engaging smugglers in gun duels, has been limited by the Oladeji, who adopted an intelligence-gathering enforcement strategy, allowing them to impound goods from smugglers without shooting at the illegal businessmen.
It was learnt that the executive order on the 40-kilometer was signed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his administration to stop clashes between traders and customs officers, an order that has not been reversed by his successors in the country.
Further restricting the law enforcement officers, the National Assembly, about five years ago, stopped the Customs from impounding any goods inside the market, a decision that was said to have been reached following the bloodshed that often accompanied such operations.
In two separate videos obtained by our correspondent, it was gathered that the Customs was alerted after the smugglers had picked a location around the market as a destination for the illegal importation of hundreds of rice bags into the country.
In both videos, with less than two minutes each, the first had residents raising the alarm on the smugglers’ operations, the other commended the customs for their swift response to the concerns made, a development that the source indicated has forced the smugglers to abandon the route for another location that they believe should be free.
In the video, the author disclosed that the smugglers adopted another route after realizing that the customs had become aware of their plans and were ready to impound the goods before arriving at the market in the state, as stipulated by law.
A trader who was identified as Mummy Tayo stated that the Customs have left the axis after about a week of intelligence gathering to ensure that the smuggled goods, wherever they might have been kept, do not leave the radius where the law allowed for total impoundment.
She added that Customs has intensified its patrol along the country’s borderline, saying we now see them every minute patrolling the borderline, which has made it hard for the smugglers supplying us to have easy access to the market.
The intensified patrol, as often, has yielded another success with the FOU seizing 445 rice bags weighing 50 kilograms without an exchange of shots with the smugglers around Ijoun, a border town in Ogun state.
This interception, which increased the number of illegally imported bags of rice and other items seized by the zone this year, marks one of the tremendous seizures recorded since the inception of “Operation Swift String” in the zone.
As gathered, the smugglers abandoned the dozens of rice bags after sighting the law enforcement officers inside the creeks where they had believed would aid them in evading arrest.
Addressing newsmen in Ikeja yesterday, the Comptroller FOU Zone A, Kola Oladeji, disclosed that no arrest was made during the seizure, saying the seizure is important as it inflicts financial pain on the smugglers.
Oladeji, however, promised that the agency would continue to pursue the culprits as part of their efforts to combat illegal importation across the southwest borderlines.
“We were unable to arrest them during the operation; securing the seizure of the goods is more paramount for us, and this is because we want to inflict pain on the smugglers. This is not a genuine trade because they are going to lose. These items will be handed over to the government by the Federal High Court and forfeited to the federal republic of Nigeria”, he stated.
Emphasizing the severe impacts of these activities on the country, Oladeji condemned individuals importing illegal items and warned that those caught would face prosecution, to serve as a deterrent to others who might consider engaging in similar activities.
Giving details on the seized bags of rice, he stressed that the contrabands were intercepted along Ijoun, a border in Ogun State connecting Nigeria with the Benin Republic.
On how the items were seized, he said: “We received intelligence that smugglers were planning to smuggle some prohibited items into the country, and we went after them”.
The FOU Zone A customs boss mentioned that the offices enjoyed cordial support from the community during the operation.
“But my happiness is on the ground that nobody was shot, nobody was injured, and there was no casualty. This is because the community people assisted us in running all these programs,” he added.
He reiterated that they carefully carried out the operation to avoid inflicting injuries to border communities.
Meanwhile, he commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, for providing necessary logistical support, enabling the agency to conduct successful operations.
He also commended stakeholders and border communities for their cooperation and intelligence sharing, which helped track down smugglers.
Furthermore, the Customs boss reiterated the agency’s commitment to maintaining a safe and secure border environment, supporting efforts to prevent illegal activities and protect national security.
