CAC, Seme Customs Command
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]omptroller Mohammed Uba Garba, who is at the helm of affairs at the Seme Customs Command is a man characterised by commitment, dedication, and team work in discharge of statutory responsibilities to achieve success geared towards moving the service to greater heights. He is a man known to have performed well in terms of revenue generation, anti-smuggling drive, legitimate trade facilitation and the security of the nation through the effective and efficient operations.
The Area Controller of Seme Border, Comptroller Mohammed Uba Graba in this exclusive interview discussed on the inter agency relationship in the Seme border area, the challenges faced by the Command, and the essence of the Joint Border Post aimed at reducing delay in clearance and enhancement of economic growth of both Nigeria and Benin Republic.
Excerpts:
Sir, we noticed you have moved from you office to this new office where you have other security agencies. What is the reason for this movement?
The reason behind the movement is that a new border has been built which is a new concept by European Union and managed by ECOWAS in order to enhance operation between Nigeria and Republic of Benin. All of us are now at the Joint Border Post called One-Stop Border. The meaning of this is one Entry, one Exit and one Control whereby all the security agencies carryout examination jointly. The aim of this is to reduce delay in clearance, integration, sharing of information and data between the two agencies of the two countries.
Recently, you revealed that scanners have been made available to the command by the European Union. Has this command started making use of the scanners?
Just like the Joint Border Post has been built by the European Union which I told you earlier on; of which there are over 80 of them all over Africa. Some are at planning or implementation stage. Seven of such Joint Border Post happens to be in West Africa as Nigeria has one Joint Border post. The Scanners as being brought requires certification from Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency for safety before the usage. So, we are waiting for them to give us clearance before the usage of the Scanner.
How significant and active has the anti-smuggling unit of this command been working?
Infact, the Seme Area Command is a combination of Revenue generating command and anti-smuggling operation command. In the anti-smuggling operations, it has been very radical, energetic and robust. During the last two press conferences we had, we made total seizures of about 30 trailers of rice, over 40 vehicles and we have been able to nab armed robbers that had robbed some people and we were able to recover about N8.5M which we handed over to Nigeria Police for investigation and prosecution. The outcome of such result will be made known to the press in due time. We also intercepted and arrested drugs smuggled into the country which we handed over to NDLEA in the spirit of inter-agency relationship. The case has been investigated and the suspect prosecuted and jailed for two years. We also embarked on sensitization and public enlightenment about the ill effects of smuggling. The border residents because of their age long relationship with their communities believe that such trading activities are normal and when they see customs officers trying to impose federal government policies against smuggling or any illegal trade, they tend to see customs officers as enemies and lunch attack on them. So for this reason, when I came in newly here I carried out a sensitization program, visited the Traditional Rulers, traders and other security agencies with a view to bring to their knowledge the ill effects of smuggling so that such problems of clash between the security agencies and the communities could be eliminated or reduced to barest minimum.
It is normal when people do not want to pay tax and when you want to impose government policies, it becomes a problem. It is only through education and enlightenment that such problem will be reduced. People should also know that Customs officers are working under instruction given to them and that is why everybody has to contribute in one way or another to promote and develop the economy.
There are still complains that Customs officers mount road blocks to extort money from passengers. Do you have any idea of this?
Let me explain the difference between a Check Point and a Patrol Base. A Check Point is an authorized place with a barrier whereby any vehicle coming will be flagged down to stop and even if the vehicle refuses to stop, the barrier will not allow you to go further. A Patrol Base is where you see Customs officers or officers of other security agencies sitting either on a bench or inside a vehicle quite unaffected by the move around them. They are only waiting for information about a particular movement of either person or vehicle; they will just come out and flag you down. They donβt stay there permanently. They move about because you might see them as you pass but on coming back you wonβt see them again. This is the difference between a Check Point and a Patrol Base. That is what is operative on the road.
We heard that the Controller-General of Customs is advocating for the reduction in levy for cars. What do you have to say about this?
We have not received such communication from the Customs High Commands. It is only hear say. Until we receive official information on this, we cannot say or act on it. It is only a rumour.
Can you tell us the challenges faced by your command knowing fully well that the border is a place where we have different languages?
Well, international boundaries border regions are laboratories of assessment of any government. In the border regions, you find people having linkage by marriage or cultural relationship. So, they have been having that age long relationship. So when you come to impose rules and regulations, they see you as a problem to them and even lunch attack. But the best thing is to educate them. For instance, exportation of locally produced goods is free. You donβt pay tax instead the government will even give you 30% discount of the value of your export. Some of them are not aware of this. Another example is, assuming you want to produce local product that customs collects Excise Duty, customs gives you tax holiday for a period of one year so that you can also grow to support economic growth, development and bring about employment too.
How will you rate the performance of you command?
I am the person working. I am not supposed to rate my command. It is comparing our statistics with that of other commands or previous administrations of this command that will signify whether there is any improvement or not. So, I cannot access my performance.
What is your message to those people who have refused to desist from smuggling?
We will continue to advice and warn them. It is normal in any society to find people who are non conformist to the norms of the society. We cannot do away with them. It is just like in your home when after giving instruction; some will carry it out while some will not. You cannot throw them away rather you continue to re-orientate and integrate them. That is what we are doing to those who engage in smuggling. The essence is that we are armed, trained on arm handling. We cannot kill people because no matter how much revenue generate we generate, no matter how many seizures we record if human life is taken it is of no significance. So for that reason, we will continue to do our best to make sure we sensitize, we educate and enlighten the people on the ill effects of smuggling to avoid casualties.
By: Grassroots Publishers
