Francis Sardauna in Katsina
Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari yesterday warned the Nigeria Customs Service against terrorizing innocent citizens and causing unnecessary death in the discharge of its duties in the state.
He said the service should find other suitable ways of managing relationships with the people in border communities and cities in the state to prevent what he termed as unnecessary killings of the citizenry. Masari stated this when he received the coordinator of Sector 4 command of the National Border Drill Operation, ACG Bashir Abubakar and other members of the team who were on a working visit to his office at the Government House.
Masari said that his administration had accorded priority to the protection of lives and properties of the citizenry and would not tolerate unnecessary killings by customs officers operating in the state.
He said: “We will continue to give you all the support that is required but what we don’t want is using excessive force and shooting inside the city because it creates panic. And in the course of the panic, some people run way; some get injured and some even lose their lives.
“I think you should be more civil when you are executing your authorities. Certainly, we will not accept sporadic shooting in the city. Whatever you are going to do, you should do it in the bush or border”.
He added, “But when it comes to the city where you are making recoveries or seizures, be more civil, we don’t want firearms. There are better ways of doing it and you can do it successful”.
Masari, however, called for the involvement of traditional and religious leaders in the fight against smuggling and other nefarious activities in the state and the country in general.
Earlier, ACG Abubakar has told the governor that the formidable team was formed to secure the lives and property of Nigerian citizens and enhance the economic growth of the country through the protection of its land borders and local industries.
He said the sector has seized 288 used vehicles, numerous bags of smuggled rice and other contrabands, calling on the governor to support the team to discharge its duties effectively.
