The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col Hameed Ali (retd), has said the Federal Government closed Nigeria’s borders in order to strengthen the nation’s security and protect its economic interest.
He said this on Thursday at the Seme border during a meeting with border stakeholders including freight forwarders and security agencies.
News Agency of Nigeria quoted Ali as saying that the closure was not intended to hurt anyone but to protect the nation’s interests.
He was also said to have visited Idiroko border, where he charged officers and men to be patriotic and exhibit utmost professionalism throughout the security exercise.
He said, “The step we have taken is in the interest of Nigeria; the step is not to hurt anybody but to protect our own interests as a nation.”
Ali said that a lot had gone wrong regarding compliance with transit of goods, adding that the border closure was to ensure that things were streamlined so that all stakeholders could be back to doing the right things.
He added, “The idea is to ensure that the protocol that is involved in transit of goods and trade facilitation is adhered to so that we will all live and complement each other.”
He acknowledged that the freight forwarders were critical stakeholders at the borders and urged them to ensure compliance with the rules regarding transit of goods.
He said, “We cannot do business without you but compliance is lacking between you and our officers. Most of the things we do don’t comply with rules and that’s why we end up with weapons, Tramadol that killed our children.
“We end up with ammunition that bandits use to kill our people; we don’t manufacture ammunition in this country; if we do, it is only from one source and that source is well protected and documented. But today, we have seen a lot of the ammunition in Nigeria. Where are they coming from?”
