The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Katsina State Command, has said smugglers are sabotaging the fight against insecurity, as they providing aid to bandits.
The Acting Comptroller of the agency in the state, Wada Chedi, made the statement at a press briefing at his office in Katsina Monday evening.
Chedi said smugglers are aiding bandits to overcome measures the state government had put in place to check their activities.
The comptroller, who made this known while briefing journalists, added that smugglers have now devised a new method of taking goods to the bandits, especially fuel.
He said the smugglers fabricate bigger tanks for motorcycles and vehicles to get enough space for fuel, which they sell to the bandits.
“Recently, we intercepted and seized two Peugeot 504 vehicles which the smugglers have fabricated their tanks to carry a larger quantity of fuel. The smugglers would go to the fuel stations with these vehicles and motorcycles and buy fuel which they will resell to bandits.
“We were able to get information on their activities through intelligence. We monitored them up to the point where they had bought the fuel and taking them to the bandits but as soon as they sensed our presence, because they are very sensitive, they abandoned the vehicles and the motorcycles which we immediately seized,” Chedi stated.
He added that they had a consultative meeting with representatives of the communities as part of their efforts to forge a positive relationship and enlighten the residents on the importance of helping the Service to fight smuggling.
