Customs Deny Ordering Withdrawal of Officers from Borders

The Nigeria Customs Service has in a statement denied ever ordering the withdrawal of its personnel from the border stations in Sokoto and Kebbi states. The statement signed by it’s Public Relations Officer, Wale Adeniyi. See statement below…

“The directive withdrawing the officers was said to have been given verbally by an un-named official of the Federal Government, raising fears about security of our borders. In view of the security implication of this development and its sensitivity, it becomes necessary for the Service to clarify the situation as follows:

“There was no directive whatsoever, verbal or written to officers of Nigeria Customs Service posted to Kebbi/Sokoto and Kaduna/Katsina commands to withdraw from the borders or their patrol bases. In view of the security situation in the country, the Comptroller-General only last week directed a reinforcement of patrol teams across the country.

“The Sokoto/Kebbi axis was beefed up with the deployment of a Special Squad in view of a reported incident between Customs and smugglers. The Service is in consultation with Nigeria Immigration Service and other sister government agencies on this issue,” it explained.

The Nigerian Customs says the allegations are “baseless and mere speculations”.