Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari has called on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to caution some of its overzealous officers who deploy unrestrained tactics during operations within Katsina metropolis.
The governor was speaking yesterday when he received the Area Commander of the NCS in charge of Kaduna/Katsina, Deputy Comptroller Dahiru Kirawa, in his office.
Masari said some of the overzealous NCS personnel were in the habit of carrying out sporadic shootings whenever they were operating within municipalities, which created panic causing injuries and fatalities.
According to him, though the NCS has the right to operate wherever duty calls, same should however be done within the confines of decorum and regard for the safety of innocent residents who have nothing to do with smuggling.
The governor’s call came three weeks after he had made similar call to the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (ACG) in charge of Sector 4 Command of the National Border Drill Operation, Bashir Abubakar.
Masari, however, said that despite overzealousness of some NCS personnel, the service had done credibly in checking smuggling, even as he reiterated his government’s full support for closure of the nation’s land borders.
The border closure, he argued, would scale up the nation’s economy as well as go long a way to check activities of those smuggling food, drugs, ammunitions and related items into the country.
He assured the command of the state government’s continued support to enable it carry out its responsibilities.
Earlier, Kirawa had called on the state government to assist the command in its advocacy programmes to sensitise residents about the negative impact of smuggling to the nation’s economy.
