Kebbi Is Hub of Hard Drugs Smuggling In Northern Region’ – Oramalugo

Comptroller Ben Oramalugo PhD the Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command in an exclusive media chat with Eguono Odjegba said it takes courage, commitment and prayers to be able to combat smuggling activities in Nigeria.

Enjoy the conversation: Excerpt.

Okay, they are basically the same, but with little differences. In Kebbi, we have borders. The Niger border with Nigeria is over 1,467 kilometers. It was a very rich place. Also in Kebbi there is a little lake boundary between the republic and the border. But it’s not as wide as the one we have with Nigeria. They have borders there too. We’re also not doing only anti-smuggling activities in Kebbi, we’re also raising revenue from the Kamba area. You know there are some borders in Nigeria like Cotonou in Benin Republic where goods can pass and we collect the required duties on them. That was the same thing we were doing in Kebbi. But the outstanding work in Kebbi was anti-smuggling activities especially in the area of hard drugs.

Yes, yes. Hard drugs, we make sure that they don’t enter. Kebbi was like a kind of hub in the northern region. 80 percent of hard drugs that enter did come from Kebbi, that was what my research told me and I made sure that I reduced them to the minimum.  So we did a lot of anti-smuggling activities especially as regards to drug fight and we made a lot of seizures especially in that area and the chairman of NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency), Brig. Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd) gave me an award for being in the forefront of the fight against hard drugs. So that was the major feature which also serve as a challenge in Kebbi operational area. The other one is endangered species like donkeys and other animals. You know, there’s a law we call CITES, that is the International Convention on Endangered Species. Nigeria became a signatory in 1973 and a lot of them were been exported out of Nigeria through Kebbi, through Niger, Chad and others. I made about three or four trailer loads of those donkey skins and hides.

No, at times I would seize one, at times I would seize two. It became an issue, there was uproar, the people that were doing it, the Chinese that were making money from it started a campaign propaganda, went to headquarters that l want to destroy the regional economy. But I was able to as an intellectual overcame their conspiracy, l went into the convention itself, armed myself with the relevant instruments to do battle with them. Headquarters agreed with me and supported me.

In all of the campaigns and possible tension, how safe were your officers?

We all know the job we signed into, it is like signing into a war front, we know that if necessary we will pay the supreme sacrifice…officers are been killed. There was a time the bandits killed about four of my officers, they were shot at close range…so it is war. What was our offence? My officers saw a vehicle and stopped it for search. They approached and wanted to open the booth not knowing that the occupants were bandits, and the bandits opened fire on them. So we live with that hostility. Even as the area controller, they threatened me…because they were losing much money in the illegal donkey skin trade. They have been doing it for years and the annoyance was that when l came l brought a stop to it. I was offered all kinds of money so that l look the other way, but l refused. In fact it was my work in Kebbi that launched me into the heart of the management in Abuja. Our CGC called me to say “Ben you are doing well l am going to give you a higher responsibility” He called me to Abuja …remember that it was the former CGC Col. Hammed Ali (retired) that appointed me as area controller. When our CGC got appointed, Col. Ali handed me over to him. So from there, l was taken to Oyo/Osun area command on a higher responsibility. Oyo/Osun command is quite big, Oyo alone is 15000 Sqr kilometer, Osun is 14000 Sqr kilometer so it was a big operational area. Oyo alone has about six border locations all linking with Benin Republic. Officially, the land borders in Oyo/Osun area command were banned from the flow of trade even as at the time l left. But the fact that smugglers were doing their things, we were also out there enforcing the ban and l was arresting the goods. It was in this command l recorded my highest seizures.

 The size of seizures in Oyo/Osun over time was higher than that made in Kebbi. For example we arrested a truck load of fake pharmaceuticals worth about N1.2 billion. We called in NAFDAC, they valued them, tested them and they were all fake. They were without the active medicinal ingredients, didn’t also have NAFDAC number. Like l said in an interview some time ago l came to Oyo/Osun with a mindset of the history of the damage of fake medications. You are aware in 1989 in Kano how many children died due to consumption of counterfeit medicines. In 1990 too in Jos, 47 children died, so l came with the determination that l will not allow allow those agents of death to operate in Oyo/Osun. They came and wanted to negotiate with me and l said ‘how can you negotiate with me because you are playing with the lives of people’. Anybody can be a victim, so l refused, it was also what projected me there as the CGC again said he has seen what l am doing and that he will give me another higher responsibility and here l am in Seme, Nigeria’s leading land border, the busiest land border connecting the entire sub region within the Lagos-Abidjan corridor. So each of the operational areas have their own challenge.

Yes, same kind of contraband in Kebbi, in fact in Oyo/Osun l noticed there is an increase like second hand clothes, used tyres etc because there are many land borders there unlike Seme here. In Seme it is just one straight axis plus the Owode-Apa extension. The multiple borders in Oyo/Osun made it more porous…between Benin Republic and Nigeria extending to Oyo/Osun is 773 kilometers. Even if all officers and men of the NCS were to stand and stretch their hands out, we cannot cover the distance, coupled that we are still operating with less technology.

We were provided with vehicles, Hilux Jeeps for patrols. Yes we didn’t have drones as it is presently being considered and like it is in foreign nations, despite that we have been able to achieve the much we did. In terms of revenue generation too, l recorded the highest figure in Oyo/Osun since its establishment, over N82billion. We optimized revenue collection from excise factories because l subjected them to checks and balance in making sure that whatever they produced they pay the appropriate excise fee.

Fortunately in Oyo/Osun l didn’t loss anyone. The near tragedy l had was that one of my officers was shot on the chest but luckily, he was kitted in bullet proof and that was what saved the day.

The mindset of smugglers both in the north and elsewhere is same. There is something unique about most of them, their fathers were smugglers, they lived through smuggling and remain in smuggling. Whatever they earn comes from smuggling, a smuggler is a smuggler, they are dare devils and are the same anywhere.

The situation is not only here, it is same in the north, there are no ready jobs but people can farm and engage in other legitimate means of livelihood. Everywhere where you have land border, they live with that excuse and kind of conviction, such a mindset is unproductive. Most of the hotels you see in the border areas are all products of smuggling.

If you want to be a controller in the border area, you must be brave, focused and prayerful. There will be threats to your safety, even your life, because to the smugglers, the mindset is that you want to remove food from their mouth. They will never allow you to breathe freely, they will use all kinds of tactics to pull you hen, petitions, physical confrontation.

Even the week l got here, there were petitions written against me. In Oyo/Osun, there were petitions too.

How do you deal with petitions?

I respond with facts, in both Kebbi, Oyo/Osun and even here, l have been blessed with competent public relations officers who put out the facts. The one in Oyo/Osun nearly cost me my seat, the luck l had was that l had an informed and understanding CGC who did an investigation and discovered the falsity of the claims. Even the petition was written with fake address, fake telephone number…they were faceless.

Like l said earlier, nobody forced us into this job. Before you join you know what it takes. As a growing child, l fancied the uniform job and wanted to join. I tried the army it didn’t work, l tried the police it didn’t work too. I tried customs service it worked, therefore that was what God destined for me and l went into the service with the determination to make a good name for myself and my family. So whenever you hear of Oramalugo, it is positive, so l want to leave the service with the highest level of integrity and good name. Perhaps that is why l feel very passionate about my job, to serve with the whole of my heart. And luckily for me l have been blessed with…wherever l go by the grace of God, l have attracted good officers who work with me. That a masquerade is popular is because he has people around him, if you remove the people following him, the masquerade becomes an empty entity. Wherever l go l have competent officers and colleagues what help do the job. My own is to delineate the policy direction and to make sure they are implemented.

Four days upon resumption l seized a Hiace Toyota van with cannabis sativa, rice…you know large quantity of rice is banned from coming in through land border. We also seized fake pharmaceuticals, we have seized hard drugs, foreign currencies. In all my press conferences l use the opportunity to showcase these seizures. You know it is not easy where you have borders that are closed border…and that is why some countries like Pakistan about 1350 kilometers wall their land borders. Afghanistan too wall its land borders, Saudi Arabia  1400 kilometers, walled its land borders…and if you calculate Nigeria land borders, it is over 4000 kilometers. So ours is so huge to wall, we don’t have the resources to do that. But inspite of that Nigeria Customs officers are trying their best even sacrificing their lives…on regular basis, an officer die in active service.

In my place they say when a man marries two wives , he will know the differences and I have been here and have seen a number of CGCs come and go. I was here when Mr. Wale Adeniyi MFR took over, so l can see the difference. One is communication…because what makes you a good leader is your capacity to communicate with your subordinates.  Leaders before him scored less in communication. Do you know that before an area controller does not have the phone number of a serving CGC? But now command controllers have access to our CGC, when you have a problem you can call him on phone and he will answer you.

That is humility at its peak. Two, we have also discovered that ethnicity, tribalism, have all reduced in customs. It is no longer whom you know but what you know. We now have controllers from Hausa, Yoruba, or other places occupying leadership positions. It’s no longer lopsided. So he has decentralized appointments based on merit. Look at the crop of controllers that he appointed, these are people with capacity. Like here, before I came we had Nnadi, we had Bomadi, we have Kolade.  All these things I’m doing, I’m doing them based on the foundation led by these great controllers. So this CGC don’t just appoint you because you are from here, or you know this person, but he will look at your capacity. Look at me an lgbo man, I was a controller in his home state. From there, he brought me to Seme. So, that’s it and in terms of amenities, they are giving us most of the things we need. During Christmas, we have bonuses paid, promotion is regular. People are being promoted. And every time, you see a very hard working leader, in office and on the field. Today, you will see him in Lagos, tomorrow, you will see him in Port Harcourt or Kano, announcing high profile seizures, engaging and partnering.

You see press conferences being held by area controllers, and you don’t do press conferences on empty premises. It’s on what you have done. So all this cumulative made African Public Relations Associations to give him an award as Man of the Year. The Nigerian Maritime Journalist Associations gave him award as Maritime Man of the Year,  and many more awards. It has never happened before. I’m not saying it because I am an area controller. I’m telling you what I know to be true. It has been the best that can ever happen.

I think it’s yet to fully take off. But they are putting measures in place for it to start.

 Well, I’ve told you the decisions I made.

Like I said, in my last project, Wenger, Arsenal  former coach said when he reached heaven and God asking him, what did he do when he was on earth? He would tell God, my job was winning matches. Now God would ask, is that all? He said, that’s all I did. So if I reach heaven tomorrow, if God asks me, what have you been doing? I will say l have been seizing offensive custom goods, fighting smugglers, that’s all I know. Within these premises, I will say what I have done in custom is to make sure that our uncustom goods don’t come in. And that was easy. While last year, I was duty controller, I won three personal awards at CGC awards ceremony in Abuja, three. No other controller did it, and I was in Oyo/Osun, competing with Apapa and Tin Can. Apapa is like 20 times more than Oyo/Osun in terms of revenue, but I was competing with them. So it shows the level of my capacity without sounding immodest.