By Ahmed Ajikobi
To avert corruption and smuggling of banned items into Nigeria, the
Area Controller, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Kwara Command, Kehinde Ilesanmi has hinted on his plans to forge a united stand with the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in tackling corruption and the rising tide of smuggling in the area.
This was disclosed midweek in a press statement released by the commission spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren after a courtesy call on the Ilorin Zonal Commander of the EFCC, Michael Nzekwe, at the Commission’s Office, No.10 Oko Close, Off Station Road, GRA, Ilorin.
Ilesanmi, who assumed duty as the Customs Area Controller, Kwara Command in January 2023 highlighted some of the functions of the Service to include revenue collection, facilitation of trade and suppression of smuggling.
He said upon resumption, the Kwara boarder was under lock due to its porous environment, while Idiroko, Katsina and Kebbi States boarders that were closed alongside with it had been reopened.
The Customs Area Controller said that upon resumption of duty, he took up the gauntlet by going after the perpetrators with a view to bringing them to justice. He disclosed that over N3.5billion revenue had been collected as revenue for government by his men, while also making 23 seizures with the duty value of each seizure worth more than N30million.
According to him, the visit was basically to strengthen the existing ties between his agency and EFCC in ensuring that both agencies deliver on their mandates.
The Customs boss praised the efforts of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC especially its bold steps in checking the activities of illegal miners in the State as well as combating the rising tide of cybercrime among the youths.
Responding, Nzekwe expressed appreciation to Mr. Ilesanmi and his entourage for the visit and hoped that stronger inter-agency collaboration and support between the two agencies would be entrenched.
“We are delighted to have a worthy partner like the Nigeria Customs Service to cooperate with us in the fight against corruption. Together, we shall make Nigeria better”, He said.
He commended the Customs boss over the visible improvement in revenue collection by his officers, noting that the cooperation between the two agencies had in no small measure helped in checking corruption and smuggling of counterfeit financial instruments.
Like the Customs Area Controller, Nzekwe recalled some of his landmark achievements within the last one year of his deployment to Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC as Zonal Commander.
He said that the illegal mining activities and non-payment of royalties by unlicensed operators, which pervaded the State had greatly been checkmated through the intervention of the EFCC.
According to him, the mineral resources in Kwara if properly harnessed were enough to turn the State into “small London”.
While stressing the importance of synergy among agencies of government Nzekwe said: “In synergy, we are sending strong signals to corrupt elements and all economic saboteurs that they now face a more difficult task to evade payment of customs duty or royalties or smuggling of prohibited goods through our borders”.
