Following the video trending online, Nigerians have condemned the actions of some officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), for dehumanising women who concealed small quantity of rice in their private parts at one of the nation’s borders.
They argued that there was no where in the Customs Excise Management (CEMA) that stated that officers of NCS should dehumanise citizens and noncitizens over little quantity of rice padded in their private parts by sharing the video to the public.
The members of the public said that nobody was stopping the Customs officers from doing their duty as stated in the CEMA, but argued that they should do it with all sense of responsibility. The stated further that sharing the video of the women to the public domain, shows how ineffective and feeble the Service has become. The public have therefore, called on the Federal Government to call men of the NCS to order as the International community was watching Nigeria .
According to Mr. Paul Kachukwu, “the simple truth is that the government closed the border, allude to the conclusion that the Customs service has failed on its roles of manning the land borders. It is obvious that little rice is for consumption and imagine the way they are being treated.
“What is the essence of sharing the video? Why did they have to video them in the first place? Are they proving to Nigerians that they are working? If they are working, why did the Federal Government close the borders? Everyday, the big smugglers bring in huge containers of contrabands into the country, how many have they arrested and prosecuted or sharing their video online”?
However, Mrs. Anike Kazeem, said, “the Customs officers humiliating the women for such small quantity of rice are unfit and should buried their faces in shame. The recent border closure is an indictment on Customs officers.
The Customs officers only shared the video to score cheap points so that Nigerians would think that they are really working. The same officers were the one who failed to man the borders and check smuggling of rice and other unwanted items in the country, which eventually led to the joint taskforce exercise with other security agencies that brought about closure of the land borders.I challenge the saint among the Customs officers to come out and swear that they have never benefitted from smuggling and its proceeds. And let others who humiliated the women also come out and swear that they are also saints.”
THISDAY
