Comptroller Hussein Ejibunu dazzles the presidency, the National Assembly, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Nigeria Customs management with the extraordinary performance of the Customs’ Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A, Lagos, under his watch, which has reduced smuggling activities in the South west region of the country to an ignoble level
By Innocent Chukwu
He came at a time when performance expectation was too high. Amid the existence of the now proscribed Customs Comptroller General’s Strike Force Team which had no different agenda other than to rival the Customs Federal Operations anti-smuggling pursuits, smugglers in the South west region had gone berserk in their reckless effort to render the economy comatose.
At the time of his coming to head the Customs’ Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A with command headquarters at Ikeja Lagos in 2021, Comptroller Hussein Ejibunu, then a Deputy Comptroller (DC) of Customs, had the biggest challenge to succeed beyond his immediate predecessor. That challenge could weaken the chicken- hearted because the officer he had come to take over from appeared to have left some big shoes which anyhow successor was incapable of stepping into due to the perception that the size was big.
Thus, many watchers of customs events only gave Ejibunu a mere passing glance, and, somehow, concluded that he had come to the proverbial world where individuals play their own part anyway, whether they succeed or not, and give way to others. Besides, in physical appearance, Comptroller Ejibunu does not possess that heavily built physique that would suggest that a bully was in town, i.e. a metaphoric bully of the menacing smugglers.
Ejibunu looked harmless, walked gently and spoke very softly. But he possessed ebullience, and within the body of the maverick Ejibunu, the Master Craftsman deposited a rare, strong, resilient and indefatigable spirit and heart that can take on daunting challenges and strive to win.
Some three years ago, the maverick Customs Area Controller (CAC) of FOU Zone A appeared in the biggest and hottest battlefield in the war against insecurity and economic sabotage, commonly referred to as smuggling.
Comptroller Ejibunu may not have acquired any better logistics to discharge his duties than what had been made available for his predecessors. But the man who attributes his record breaking success in anti -smuggling at the FOU Zone A to help from above -Almighty God – insists that he had predetermined to make a big difference from the performance record he met when he was appointed acting Area Controller.
Today, stakeholders are confessing that in the history of the war against smuggling in customs, Comptroller Ejibunu is the best CAC to have led the FOU Zone A, performance wise. The claim is not unconnected with the record of seizures the command has recorded in the past three years under Ejibunu, which proves that under his watch the command has made the biggest, most remarkable and most valuable seizures ever achieved in the history of the FOU Zone A. The skeptics and doubting Thomases are overwhelmed by wonder.
In 2021, he announced his presence at FOU Zone A with a record seizure of numerous items which Duty Paid Value (DPV) amounted to the sum of over N7.19 billion. When the terrorizing smugglers thought it would be a big joke, Ejibunu re-strategized in 2022 with his team and matched the criminals with commensurate action that sent many of them out of business. That year, FOU Zone A recorded seizures which DPV almost doubled that of 2021; a whopping N12 billion worth of seizures were achieved which made many tongues to wag.
There were also revenue collections from Demand Notices (DN) which cumulatively amounted to N618 million and N878 million for 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Notably, the FOU Zone A operations covers Nigeria’s busiest sea ports at Apapa and Tincan Island, busiest international airport in Ikeja, as well as the busiest international land border located at Seme Border, all in Lagos State. Last year, 2023, the Ejibunu-led FOU Zone A recorded a total of 1,119 seizures which DPV amounted to the sum of over N10.3 billion. These seizures comprised of foreign parboiled rice, vehicles, marijuana, tramadol, used tyres, poultry products, foot wears, petroleum products among others.
Remarkably, foreign parboiled rice which is the most prominent seizure the command recorded in 2023 amounted to 139 trailer load or 83,170 bags of 50kg. Some of the seizures of 2023 included 13,706 kegs of 25 litres premium motor spirit (PMS), 8,372 kg of Indian hemp, 2,153 bales of used clothes, 3,095 cartons of frozen poultry, 320 cartons of illicit drugs, 15 pieces of bullet proof jackets, 15 pieces of jack knives, 68 pieces of military camouflage, 450 drums of 106 kg of carbide, 1/40ft and 2/20ft containers found to contain charcoal and 132 units of foreign used vehicles.
Also in 2023, the FOU Zone A under Comptroller Ejibunu made a total arrest of 136 persons in connection with the seized items and for other illicit trade-related crimes. The command also made a total revenue recovery of N851.7 million through DN.
A month by month analysis of the performance of FOU Zone A in 2023 shows that in the month of January, seizures’ DPV amounted to N517.9 million and a revenue recovery of N86.1 million. In February the DPV was N501.4 million with a revenue recovery of N103.6 million. The command arrested 18 suspects linked with the seizures made in February 2023. The month of March 2023 saw a DPV of N694.4 million, a revenue recovery of N72.6 million. In this month there was the seizure of non-compliant drugs arrested by the FOU and handed over to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), they were warehoused in 39/40ft and 2/20ft containers worth over N1.4 billion.
In April, the DPV of the seizures amounted to N746.1 million, with revenue recovery of N66.7 million. Seventy-nine seizures with N1.025 billion DPV was achieved by the command in the month of May 2023. Four suspects were also arrested that month. The month of June 2023 had total of 580 seizures which DPV was over four billion naira, with recorded revenue of N400. 5 million and the arrest of 60 suspects. In July, there were a total of 50 seizures which DPV amounted to N462.7 million, N66.4 million recovered revenue and the arrest of 13 suspects. August seizures were 91 with DPV of N813 million and the arrest of 12 suspects, while in September a major seizure of 7,029 bags of 50kg rice was achieved. The rice was an equivalent of 20 trailers of rice which DPV amounted to N1.7 billion and revenue recovery of N72.8 million. In October 2023 the total DPV of the seizures was N1.2 billion.
While making projection of the command’s operations in the year 2024, Comptroller Ejibunu said, I want to reiterate that our battle to prevent smuggling will be intensified this year as we shall not relent in making seizures, arrests and prosecution of criminals who contravene the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023. If they don’t desist from their criminal ways, this year will be tougher for them because they will lose their investments and freedom when arrested.
“Let me put on record that we shall lawfully arrest and prosecute any individual involved in the attack of our officers who are discharging their legitimate responsibilities. No attacker of our personnel will be spared from facing the full wrath of the law”.
He also said, “We will employ different strategy this year and remove anything that will inhibit our operations, and we will prosecute those that will be arrested”.
Comptroller Ejibunu said aside divine help which has been made available to him in its full dose, which is helping him to triumph at the FOU Zone A, other strategic areas that are making his command ‘s job less stressful have been the supply of needed logistics to work which the customs management has always made available, movement of officers around the zone to avoid overstay which can result in monotony and inefficiency, taking officers welfare into serious consideration which has resulted in their kow towing to the rules guiding the Service’s rules of operation. With these strategies in place, Ejibunu’s reign at the FOU Zone A has been adjudged the most remarkable and most successful.
Comptroller Ejibunu may not have known that for his extra ordinary seriousness in waging the war against smuggling and insecurity in the country, he has attracted to himself the admiration of the nation’s leadership at the federal level and the policy makers. Sources from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the National Assembly, as well as those from the presidency, have hinted that even President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is aware of the exploits of the customs top shot.
A presidency source who confided in this medium while avoiding being named in print for “security reasons”, said, “The activities of the customs FOU in Lagos under Mr Ejibunu is well understood by the big men both at the presidency and National Assembly. I don’t want to say more than that, and please don’t quote me. Everybody knows he’s doing a great job, even though you cannot wipe out smuggling completely”.
Another source said that the ONSA is also watching what is going on at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) under Col. Buba Marwa and the Customs FOU in Lagos, with keen interest. The source said that President Tinubu administration will reward government officials who performed their duty with commitment and dedication, in due time.
Meanwhile, many stakeholders and critical supporting allies of the customs have called on the Federal Government to reward Comptroller Ejibunu’s effort with a commensurate national honour so as to motivate other officers of the Service.
