By Uzor Odigbo
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has described the content of a video circulating on social media that the service is destroying the properties of Clearing agents at Seme Border as a false narrative and a misleading commentary capable of inciting members of the public against the Customs.
The service via its Public Relations Officer, DC Joseph Attah, disclosed that the land in question belongs to the NCS and was allocated temporarily to the Clearing agents with the agreement that anytime the service needed it, they would leave.
The service further explained that the Clearing agents had occupied the land for over a decade and were consequently given quit notice that lasted about a year.
The move, it said, was due to the need for the NCS management to provide adequate accommodation for officers of the Command through expansion, so as to ensure effective delivery of their statutory functions, and also to avoid a situation where inadequacy of barracks accommodation force officers to live in houses that may belong to smugglers.
It added that the Clearing Agents, which the service enjoys a cordial relationship with was only complying with the notice and removing all their valuables.
“It is therefore, unfortunate for this unknown person to film people who are removing their own properties without coercion or hindrance to give it a narrative that can cause breach of peace”, it said.
The Service called on anyone who may come across the video to disregard its content, noting that there are efforts ongoing to track the fabricator.