After eight years of horrifying reign of Col. Hameed Ali (retd.) at the Nigeria Customs as its despotic Comptroller General, the new management of the Service led by Bashir Adewale Adeniyi (MFR) has begun to clean up the Augean Stable to usher in professionalism and legality. It also identifies negative influences of near unregulated and illegal operational tactics on the image of the Service and takes drastic measures to nip them in the bud
By Innocent Chukwu
The acting Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, has hit the ground running in his quest to restore professionalism and dignity in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). These values had, somehow, remained elusive in the operational tactics of the NCS in the past eight years when his immediate predecessor, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), unleashed unethical leadership that left the Nigeria Customs a lawless parastatal, almost.
Aside running the Customs like a junta, deploying the services of senior army officers in sheer disregard to the global customs best practices, Ali had also created illegal arms and units in the Service which operations ran foul of law and professional ethics.
But Adeniyi has begun to dismantle some of the Ali’s illegal and unethical legacies, replacing them with what is in alliance with the Nigeria Customs professional ethics and standard operating system.
Also, The Ali regime ran a clannish and nepotistic Customs Service that relegated merit and federal character principle to the background. One of the illegal legacies of Ali customs was the now disbanded CGC’s Strike Force Team which complimented the Service’s anti – smuggling unit. Though the Strike Force Team operated across the geopolitical zones to make numerous seizures and collected huge revenues for the Customs, it had no legal backing which aroused backlash against its existence in the first place.
Besides, Ali had ensured lack of equity and balance in the appointment of the Heads and Commanders of the Strike Force Team. Mainly his alleged cronies, according to industry watchers, were favoured to head the Strike Force across board. These watchers of customs events also alleged that the Strike Force Unit was designed by Ali to make way for his cronies to amass wealth on one side, and also complement the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) on the other hand. The Team was, allegedly, able to achieve both objectives before its dissolution last July.
On July 17, 2023, in a move that had since unsettled officers deployed to the Strike Force Team, Adeniyi had announced the disbandment of the Strike Force Team all over the country with immediate effect. In a circular signed on behalf of the acting CGC by the Deputy Comptroller General (DCG) in charge of the Service’s Enforcement, Investigations and Inspection (E,I&I), Mohammed Abba -Kura, Adeniyi had noted that the proscription of the illegal Team was with immediate effect.
The new customs boss in the circular stressed that “I am directed to convey the Comptroller-General of Customs’ (CGC) approval for the immediate dissolution of the CGC’s Strike Force Teams. To this end, all officers under the teams are by this circular directed to return to their Area Commands or Units where they were drawn from.
“SF Team Coordinators in respective zones (A, B, C & HQ) are to ensure the following:
- All Arms and Ammunitions are to be properly handed over to respective Area Commands/Units/Headquarters where they were signed from.
- All operational vehicles are to be handed over to Controllers Federal Operation Units (FOU) and returns forwarded to Headquarters respectively. Coord HQ SF Team should retire operational vehicles under his team to Comptroller Transport & Logistics.
- Records of detentions, seizures, cases in court and any other vital record/information are to be handed to Controller FOUs across the Zones while Coord HQ SF Team should retire all records under his custody to the office of DCG E, I&l.”
The announcement for the disbandment of the Strike Force Team came while Adeniyi embarked on the tour of the Customs Commands and formations in the Zone A Unit of the NCS which are located in the South west zone of the country. While at the tour of the zone, Adeniyi had emphasized that he would run an all inclusive customs in order to restore the battered image of the Service and its dignity as a professional customs officer.
Highlights of the acting CGC’s visit of the Zone A include the showcasing of large quantities of arms and ammunition illegally imported into the country via sea ports and land borders. Adeniyi used the opportunity to reemphasize his leadership’s commitment to various reforms he would deploy to reposition the NCS under his tutelage. According to Adeniyi, “Let me state at this point that the Service re-strategized its operations, while our officers have raised their levels of professionalism, and have keyed into the mantra of renewed hope aimed at facilitating legitimate trade, we are assuring all compliant traders and importers that they have nothing to fear.
“We have re-injected new tactics to tackle the economic and security menace caused by recalcitrant importers and their agents. The Service’s human resources and logistics are collectively harnessed to combat and prevent economic sabotage.
“The declaration of a state of emergency in revenue generation and national security has further aligned our activities with the government’s strategic goals”.
Adeniyi also stressed that since he assumed office as the acting CGC, there has been a serious commitment on the part of the officers and men to their responsibilities more than ever in line with his transformation agenda. Such commitment, Adeniyi said, has resulted in visible expression of sheer diligence and perseverance on the part of the officers and men, which has become the cornerstone of the “new Customs” operations under his care.
“Since assuming the role of acting Comptroller General, our dedicated officers and men have demonstrated unwavering commitment to their responsibilities. Their diligence and perseverance has been the cornerstone of our operations. Our actions have been driven by a deep sense of purpose and guided by the mantra of renewed hope, which underpins the current administration’s vision. We recognize the significance of our role in contributing to the overall objectives of the President Bola Tinubu -led administration, as articulated in the roadmap of the Policy Advisory Council document”.
Adeniyi hinted that the diligence of his administration resulted in unusual efforts by officers to suppress smuggling and safeguard national security. Hence the seizures.
At the Ports and Terminals Multi-Services Limited (PTML) Command, Apapa, Lagos, a combined team of officers of the Department of State Service (DSS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and those of the NCS through a thorough physical examination of a 40ft container on July 5, 2023 uncovered a concealment of 10 dangerous arms and various rounds of ammunition inside plastic drums including three new pump action rifles and one unit of an armed rifle, six new different makes of pistols, one new millennium G2 pistol and one new Sarsilmaz SAR -9X pistol.
Other arms were one new Lugger Security -9 pistol, one new Taurus Banbridge G3C pistol, one new SCCY CPX-2 pistol, one new Taurus 63 pistol, 14 empty magazines and 442 rounds of ammunition. Two suspects linked with the arms and ammunition, Mr Shokunbi Olanrewaju and Mr Joseph Nwadiodor, were also detained.
At the Tincan Island Port the same period, officers at the Command of Customs who deployed the 100 percent physical examination on a 40ft container also unraveled 18 arms, packets of cartridges and rounds of live ammunition inside plastic drums which comprised of six different makes of pistols, including two SAR 9 Sarsilmaz pistols, one Ruger American pistol and three Taurus G3C Banbridge pistols. There were also 12 different makes of rifles and and numerous other kinds of ammunition. The NCS National Public Relations Officer (NPRO), Abdullahi Maiwada, said that while rounding off his visits to the South west zone, Adeniyi had reiterated the Service’s resolve to rejig Customs anti- smuggling operations through the review of the Enforcement strategy and streamlining of its structures. At a meeting with Patrol Heads of the FOU Zone A, Adeniyi told his audience that the dissolution of the Strike Force Team was part of the steps his administration is taking to effect change and bring transformation to Customs, as well as to strengthen the FOU’s operations across the country.
Adeniyi: “This (FOU) is what many of us met when we joined the Service. It means that the major Enforcement arm of the Service is the Federal Operations, so you will be held responsible for whatever happens around your jurisdiction.
“You no longer have any other structures, of course. The Border Drills are completely different. But within the Service you are the number one Enforcement Agency and it is a huge responsibility given to you. I want to believe that you are up to the responsibility.
“We were doing it before, so let me say that if there are any of these structures placed above your head or under you that are making seizures, they are not doing anything new because it is what you have been used to doing and it is what we are challenging you to do”.
While charging the Enforcement officers to adopt professionalism, remain conscious of the national security and to uphold the ethics of their profession in the discharge of their duties, he also reminded them that every unethical and unprofessional act that can spoil the image of the Service under his watch will attract serious sanctions. “Your uniform is your uniform and that is what you must wear; if you are in a difficult terrain, you put on the combat, you must not cover your face with glasses or tie your head with turban. Your uniform must also have a name tag”, Adeniyi charged, and also warned that operational vehicles must be appropriately marked and positioned at the assigned patrol points.
