CAC, Seme Customs Command
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]omptroller Mohammed Garba is a man of immense mettle and a completely detribalized human being with a profound depth of character, whose humility, devoid of discrimination, embraces all and sundry. He soars like an eagle and exudes reverence and integrity. A pragmatic leader full of benevolence; he gives hope to the hopeless, welfare succor to the poor and needy. To everyone who crosses his path, he is a light. He is a friend to the staff , a role model to the young,a helper to many and a visionary man.
Comptroller Mohammed Garba the present Controller in charge of Seme Border Command fits into the mold where scholars conclude that great men and women achieve success through hardwork and resilience. He remains the luckiest in terms of favourable circumstances. He is one of the few officers that have served round trip the most successful commands in Nigeria. Comptroller Mohammed Garba is not disposed to unnecessary talks and frivolities; a no nonsense man who had all through his leadership role in the service proved himself to be a leader that matches words with actions.
Since he was redeployed as the Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command, he has magically turned around the operations of the command wise with unprecedented revenue generated and seizures since he took over.He has hitherto raised the performance bar of the unit to an exampled level in the history of the command. This is due to the fact that the refined officer is adjudged according to maritime watchers to be a revenue oriented officer as well as his encomiums emanated from commands with performance based on revenue. Many senior customs officers hailed the Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) led management’s decision of redeploying Comptroller Mohammed Garba to the Seme Border Command to pilot the affairs of the unit knowing fully well he is a great performer and a goal getter; bearing in mind that the command is one of the nerve centres of the Nigeria Customs Service.His aggressive approach and the protectiveness of his Command officers will increase revenue generation of the command, adding that Nigeria Customs Service main target is revenue generation and trade facilitation with much efforts and emphasis on blockage of revenue leakages through 100 percent examination of cargoes.
Comptroller Mohammed Garba wants to leave the Seme Border Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) better than he met it is not in doubt. This is because he is a man that is associated with result from his days in the lower cadre in the Service to this present position of the Controller of Customs. The new reformed Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service under Compt. Garba has engaged in a renewed effort of aggressive anti-smuggling operation there by tightening the land border against smuggling activities.
The command is deploying all necessary tools to ensure that the core mandate of the Service (revenue generation, facilitation of legitimate trade and suppression of smuggling) amongst others, is vigorously achieved. This is because actualising the functions of revenue generation and legitimate trade facilitation depend solely on how smuggling activities are aggressively suppressed to the barest minimum.It is against this backdrop that the anti-smuggling unit of the command has intensified its operations in order to curb the menace of trans-border crimes (smuggling) and other vices.
The ongoing aggressive patrol by formation of federal troops consisting of the army, police , Navy and air-force marched on Seme in August after a combined drill that also include other paramilitary forces like the Civil Defense Corps is yielding tremendous results and has translated to the seizure of numerous items.The forces, had been ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari to join the NCS to strengthen security across all international borders in the country.
Security experts say the move is a change in strategy for the Buhari’s administration in five years, intended to counter various security problems facing the country the their mission is first to check the influx of dangerous weapons and movement of terrorists within our borders,” The development has obviously altered the operations of the NCS in such a way that it no longer has the monopoly of controlling the movement of goods and persons along the border “at least for the period that the joint border operations will last, It has nevertheless hamstrung the activities of Seme customs’ area controller and his proactive men along the border.
However, at the Seme Command of the NCS, Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba will not allow himself to be relegated to the background or dwarfed by the ‘federal forces,’ whose presence at the borders, many insist have made movement of goods and persons difficult since they made their debut few weeks ago. At the time that unusual silence have pervaded many border commands across the country, the Seme command braved the odds after Comptroller Uba directed his men to go after criminals more than ever before as they could not allow themselves to be distracted by the presence of the federal forces. His order paid off as few days ago, some criminals had plotted to hide under the guise of ‘Abuja forces’ to bring into the country some contraband including parcels of cannabis sativa, a banned substance. Unknown to the members of the gang of smugglers who were working in tandem with a gang from neighbouring Ghana, the controller had, after an intelligence report, directed his operatives to lay an ambush.The gang of smugglers eventually fell into the trap set by Comptroller Uba and his men.
Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), a member of the close watchers of the Service told the newsmen of the seizure where he said “Thank God for that successful operation. Five parcels of banned drug, suspected to be cannabis sativa would have found the way to the country thus compounding the problem of use of dangerous drug and abuse among our citizens especially the youths,’ “ Ever since he was redeployed from the FOU Zone A, Ikeja exactly a year ago by the Comptroller General of NCS, Comptroller Uba has not relented in his duty of making the nation safe from the Seme International border end.” He noted.
In July 2019,Comptroller Uba had said that he has the mandate of the Comptroller General to run drug peddlers out of town and their illegal business ‘for the good of country.’ Smoking out smugglers wherever they are hidden “will ensure that our core mandate as directed,” by the CG “is achieved.”He made the statement while displaying to the public seized rotten cow hide also known as ‘pomo’ and other prohibited items worth N114.5m. According to him “the holistic approach in executing the mandate of the service will lead to an all-encompassing result as revenue generation, suppression of smuggling and legitimate trade facilitation will be adequately enhanced at the Lagos-Abidjan corridor without compromising national security.”Speaking on the issue of drug smuggling he said “We as customs men have the patriotic duty to support the effort of the federal government to rid the nation of hard drugs in line with the directive of the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) Drug smugglers will be hunted down and fished out, There is no hiding place for smugglers at the Seme border.
We have a duty to protect our economy from influx of harmful and prohibited items and we must do that tirelessly,” he added. Apart from the five parcel of cannabis sativa, other prohibited items seized in the last two weeks of last month, according to the spokesman of the command, Nuruddeen Abdulllahi are 875x50bags of Foreign parboiled rice with DPV of N15,023,750; 20 parcels of cannabis sativa with street value worth of N516,180; 535 bales of used clothes with DPV of N17,259,769; 65 cartons of poultry products with DPV of N948,333.75. Others are 269 baskets of fresh tomatoes; one basket of fresh peppers; seven sacks of cucumber and pineapples; 16 baskets of fresh okro (all perishable products coming from Benin Rep. which were earnestly auctioned off) with DPV of N367,471; 137×25 liter jerry cans of PMS with DPV of N287,700; 6x50kg of refined sugar with DPV of N147,640.50 and 12x25litres of vegetable oil with DPV of N131,625.90. The essence of the seizure Comptroller Uba stated is to “continue to send the right signal to discourage other people from indulging in the despicable act of smuggling.”
Comptroller Mohammed Garba disclosed that combating smuggling is a major responsibility that the Nigeria Customs Service is saddled with and as such, compliance with federal government fiscal policies is not an option to an institution that is bestowed with such enormous responsibilities.He further stated that officers are adequately motivated and re-oriented to execute their functions creditably and discretionally without compromise.
By: Ike Abiagom