•Extortion persists
By Steve Agbota
Security checkpoints along the popular Seme border corridor have reduced from over 100 to just 29, investigation by Daily Sun has revealed.
This highlights ongoing efforts to ease congestion and improve trade flow on the busy trade axis.
Among the 29 checkpoints, Customs has four, while the Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigerian Police and other security agencies have the highest number of checkpoints.
Stakeholders, motorists and traders attributed the reduction in checkpoints to the initiative by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to streamline border operations and eliminate multiple checkpoints between Seme and Lagos in a bid to boost trade and economic growth.
However, a visit by Daily Sun on Monday to the Seme Border uncovered that the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) has joined the other security agents to mount a checkpoint along the border corridor.
Meanwhile, as the checkpoints reduce in number, extortions and collection of kickbacks from traders and motorists by security agents, especially by Immigration officers and Police officers, are still on the rise.
Despite a Comptroller of Immigration being suspended recently over widespread extortion by personnel along the Lagos-Seme border corridor, on Monday, one of the personnel of the Service was seen collecting money (bribe) from a driver heading towards the border.
The traders and motorists alleged that the extortion is impeding trade and the movement of goods along the border corridor.
However, an investigation by Daily Sun revealed that Customs only approved two checkpoints between Agbara and Gbaji along the Badagry-Seme road, while the Police also approved four checkpoints to curb the proliferation of checkpoints and extortion along the Seme border corridor.
Speaking on the reduction of checkpoints, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, said that the Service will not have checkpoints on the Seme Border corridor in order to boost trade.
“And if we believe in lawful trade, we should do everything possible to protect that trade. If I should believe in lawful trade and still be mounting a checkmate on the road, that means I’m saying one thing and doing another in the background. So we are on it.
“Everyone knows that we keep engaging our officers. We keep sensitising them on the importance of trade facilitation. Trade facilitation is key to our success today as customers. So we are not playing with that. It’s one thing that we keep as a priority anywhere we find assets.
“At this border, by the grace of God, we will not do anything to suffer any trade along this corridor. We’ll not increase the checkpoints. We are on it,” he said.
Meanwhile, a clearing agent, Musuliu Akanni, said that the number of checkpoints along the Seme Border corridor has actually reduced due to the initiative of Customs and stakeholders’ engagement to tackle the menace.
He said that widespread extortions by security agents need to be tackled as well because it is hampering trade and movement of goods along the border corridor.
“This checkpoint of a thing is an international embarrassment to us as citizens and as a nation. Find a time to travel from the Nigerian border to the Cotonou corridor, and you will not see more than two checkpoints. Once they stop, you check your papers, and if your papers are in order, you are good to go, and nobody will ask you a penny over there.
“It is only in Nigeria that you will see so many checkpoints with different forces, even the ones that have nothing to do with the border corridor. Recently, SWAT also joined border patrol and mounted a checkpoint. All these checkpoints here and there are killing trade.
“We commend Customs for facilitating trade today because they have the lowest number of checkpoints along this corridor and their officers hardly collect money from motorists. We urge other security agents to follow suit. The government needs to address this and still reduce the number of checkpoints and curb extortion by ensuring a smoother movement of goods and people without compromising national security along this corridor,” he said.
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