A human rights activist and Executive Chairman of the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, has commended the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Adamu Mohammed, and Director General of the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS), Col. Hammed Ali (rtd), over their recent search light in Ogun State border towns over criminal activities and illicit smuggling businesses.

Commending the Police boss for prompt intervention on the group’s (CHRSJ’s) call, on the criminal activities of some bad elements led by a known smuggler and land grabber (names withheld), for deploying the men of IGP X-Squad from Abuja to the area for surveillance.

He stated that deployment of the IGP X-Squad within the period, had reduced the illegal and unprofessional conduct of some erring Police officers who were on payroll of some key actors of the gang in the area, calling on the IGP Mohammed to intensify efforts by setting up a crackdown team to be led by DCP Abbah Kyari from Abuja to beam searchlight into the State, particularly, the Ipokia local government and its environs as a way to nip the criminal activities of the area in the bud.

The CHRSJ leader advised the IGP to order his X-Squad to be extremely vigilant in their official duties in the area so as to avoid Taraba experience of Abba Kyari team, urging the IGP to advise his men, not to hesitate to expose those behind the criminal activities in the area.

The group accused those who were parading themselves as wealthy people, including some monarchs in the local government area of the state as those behind the most serious criminal activities such as; bunkering, smuggling and land grabbing. It insisted that the IGP should set up an independent investigative panel under DCP Abba Kyari to investigate all the CHRSJ’s allegations against some criminal minded individuals as contained therein in all its Petition Letter to the IGP and other Police authorities.

Commenting further on the Federal Government’s suspension of fuel supply to areas within 20 kilometres to the nation’s borders, the CHRSJ hailed the government and Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service “on this long-overdue decision but appealed to the authority to come up with palliative measure in no distance time on the scarcity of fuel ravaging the area, in the interest of the masses in the affected towns and local government area of the state.”

It stressed that those who were behind the illicit business of smuggling and bunkering, thereby sabotaging the nation’s economy and government revenue generation, were well known to all the security apparatus in the area because they were working with some bad eggs in the security outfit of the government deploying to the area.

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