Western Marine Customs, Immigration Forge Alliance for National Security and Development
Kathy Kyari
The Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced a new collaboration with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to strengthen national security and advance the country’s development.
The maiden edition of the inter-agency dialogue was held at the Western Marine Command headquarters in Apapa, Lagos, bringing together senior officers from both agencies in a bid to foster cooperation and shared understanding.
Speaking at the event, the Customs Area Controller, Western Marine Command, Comptroller Patrick Ntadi, described the two agencies as “twins in the service,” emphasizing the need for unity and cooperation.
“The Nigerian Immigration Service and Nigerian Customs are twins in the service. That is why the Controller of Immigration is here with her officers, this is because she knows that we are twins,” Ntadi said.
He stressed the importance of collaboration over competition, noting that any failure in their respective duties would have national consequences.
“There is nothing like superiority, everybody has their own job. When the job suffers, the country suffers. And when the country suffers, it tells on all of us,” he stated.
Ntadi urged officers of both the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Immigration Service to put national interest above personal or institutional ego.
“If you meet a smuggler on the road or in the sea at night, he won’t bother to identify whether you are Immigration or Customs, you are the enemy to him,” he said. “So why be enemies to yourselves?”
While addressing officers from both agencies in the command’s conference room, Ntadi underscored the significance of the gathering.
“Today something new has happened. We have come together to build a strong place among all of us. It is an opportunity for us to interact. An opportunity for us to come together, to build a strong relationship,” he said.
“The person sitting beside you is either an immigration officer or a customs officer, we have been together for so long, in a situation like this, we have happened not to fall down. Our interaction shall be official and unofficial. When we meet, as we expand, we might find things we do in common. The essence is for us to be one. Knowing that there is no difference. In spite of the fact that we live different ways, we are working for the same government,” he added.
Also speaking at the event, Comptroller Clementina O. Ogbudu of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos Seaport and Marine Command, expressed her excitement over the renewed collaboration between the two services.
“Today, to say that I am delighted will be an understatement, in the sense that two services are together as one, working for one country,” she said.
She commended the customs officers for their smart turnout and assured of the same standards at her command.
“I am promising you that by the time your controller comes to my command unannounced, you will find my guys smart looking as well,” she said.
“We have one country, yes, we are from two different agencies, but we are working for one country, for you and for me,” Ogbudu added.
She also emphasized the importance of joint efforts in tackling border-related crimes such as smuggling and human trafficking.
“So we have decided to come together as a team to form a formidable squad that no other person, not the smugglers, not the people that trade our young children for prostitution can penetrate. You know, we are the ones facing the sea, we find these people all over,” she said.
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