Just as well: the Steering Committee of the National Taskforce on the illegal importation of rice through land borders is mulling an inter-agency approach to policing Nigeria’s porous borders.

The Benin border has been a beehive of economic sabotage, with tonnes and tonnes of smuggled rice, via the Cotonou Ports. That is despite that the ECOWAS Protocol on movement of imported goods frowns at such unconscionable sabotage.

It’s high time, therefore, Nigeria got tough: against Nigerian Judases, who for personal greed sabotage their home economy; and for Benin Republic, which seems unable to resist illicit revenue at Nigeria’s dire expense. This twin-reckless behaviour must stop. The security agencies should sit up and see to it.

Andy Ekwelem, director-general, Rice Producers Association of Nigeria (RPAN), just shared a rather troubling intelligence: over 566, 000 metric tonnes of rice had arrived Republic of Benin Cotonou Ports from Thailand and India.

It takes no especial acuity to figure that armada is meant for Nigeria, via smuggling. Benin simply lacks the capacity to consume all that stuff. The clear target is to derail Nigeria’s goal of food security. That must be resisted by all legal and legitimate means.

It’s even more roiling that such umpteenth outrage comes from the Benin front, after its border with Nigeria was shut for some one year, following complaints linked to rice, fuel and allied smuggling.

But it is equally heart-warming that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) appears rallying to the challenge. ”It is always like that at the end of the year,” Timi Bomodi, NCS deputy public affairs officer disclosed. “We anticipated this and more officers are going to be deployed to the borders to check the smuggling.”

He further enthused: “There is no number yet but they will come from the various intervention units; the commands, the Federal Operations Unit. We have the Strike Force Unit, the border drill which is a combined unit that comprises Customs and other military and paramilitary officers,” he told The Punch.

That not only appears impressive but it is clearly in sync with a re-booted inter-agency approach Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), the NCS director-general, had pushed at the steering committee meeting.

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