Stakeholders Task Journalists On Tips For Customs To Curb Smuggling Activities

To effectively tackle the smuggling of goods into the country, stakeholders have charged media practitioners to go beyond merely reporting seizures to provide useful information that can lead to a reduction of smuggling activities in the country.
The stakeholders made the call at a one-day capacity training organised by The Powerful Pen Media Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Lagos.
Speaking, Customs Controller, Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Comptroller Abubakar Umar, charged media practitioners to key into anti-smuggling activities by providing information to security agents on smuggling.
Umar, who was represented at the event by Deputy Comptroller Sahadu Adamu, said this was part of the ways to curb the menace in the country.
“I urge journalists to oblige us with information on anything that has to do with smuggling, they should go beyond reporting of seizures to providing us information on noticed smuggling activities,” he said.
Adamu noted that no nation would stand by and watch smuggling thrive without doing something stringent about it; hence the border closure in 2020 by the Federal government-generated controversy among the citizens of the country and beyond.
He accused some neighbouring countries of encouraging smuggling and other vices in Nigeria and suggested that the authorities began to review their bilateral relations with them, adding that the country should review its bilateral agreements with other African countries, especially with those with it shares borders curb smuggling through unapproved routes and the waterways.
According to him, the effects of smuggling on the economy were quite devastating because it retarded developments in various ramifications by hindering the growth of indigenous technological growth.
Adamu highlighted that smuggling went beyond the movement of goods and persons across borders, listing some of the trade infractions as falsification of clearing documents like false declaration, concealment, overvaluation, under-declaration, and over-invoicing, among others.
According to the enforcement officer, the motive and motivation behind smuggling were to evade payment of duty and levies put in place by the authorities in the interest of the country.
He listed other attractions as, acquiring maximum financial gains by circumventing local revenue taxations and avoiding procuring some approved licenses for trade or manufacturing.
The Western Marine Command chieftain, however, informed that by the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), they were empowered to seize goods, and detain and prosecute persons suspected to be participating in smuggling.
In his own contribution, the Controller, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, Comptroller Hussien Ejibunu, explained that his unit was an interventionist outfit that acted as checks and balances in Customs operations.
The Controller, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller, Garko Ali, stated that theirs was to compliment the work of the enforcement officers at the ports and border posts.
To buttress the importance of the unit, he said there was no month they never recorded a minimum of 100 seizures from smugglers running into several millions of naira.
Ali commended The Powerful Pen Media Chapel and the Maritime Journalists’ Association of Nigeria (MAJAN) for organising the programme, which he said, would aid factual reporting of events.
Similarly, the Assistant Director, Public Relations, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Edward Osagie, who led his team to the event, said the group was on the right trajectory, adding that it was setting the agenda for the incoming government, as this was happening in an election period.
“The lot we do in NIMASA depends on the media and it is a good thing that MAJAN and The Powerful Pen Media Chapel thought it wise to organise a training programme for journalists on accurate reporting,” he said.
He urged the group to extend their training dragnets to other sectors of the industry like NIMASA for a better understanding of their operations and consequently, accurate reportage.
On his part, Vice President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMLCA), Alhaji Isa Kazeem Adua, said the Chapel and MAJAN were on the right track by commencing their training with the Customs, being the custodian of the ports.
He charged the journalists to maximise their knowledge of the operations of the Service in order to support and report it accurately.
Chairman, Lagos State Council of NUJ, Comrade Adeleye Ajayi, in his address, commended the Chapel and MAJAN for the initiative to update journalists’ knowledge on Customs operations and expressed the hope that they would maximise the opportunities.
He praised the Western Marine Command and the FOU for finding time to relate with journalists in such a training capacity and urged them not to relent in assisting the knowledge seekers further.
He advised that as they sourced for knowledge, they should equally utilize the avenue to empower themselves financially in the interest of their families; hence he urged stakeholders to support journalists in the arduous task of information dissemination.
In her welcome address, Chairman, The Powerful Pen Media Chapel, Mrs Udeme Clement, explained that they thought it wise to be educated by the Nigeria Customs Service for accurate reportage of its activities and challenges.
She said the training became more expedient following the modernization that had been going on in the service that required the media to get updated on its operations and challenges likewise.
She thanked the commands for heeding the journalists’ clarion call and another stakeholder, who came around to show solidarity with the journalists and the Chapel.