Hameed Ali, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has dissolved the 2017 compliance team and replaced it with a strike force.
Mr Joseph Attah, the Public Relations Officer of the Service, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the strike force team would be posted to the four zonal offices of the Service in Lagos, Kaduna, Bauchi and Port Harcourt.
According to Attah, the strike force can also use the Customs training colleges as their base.
He said that part of the mandate of the strike force was to check the activities of Customs officers.
“The Customs strike force is set up to replace compliance team. This team is to operate under a different strategy.
“The team is empowered to enter any command system on suspicion of fraudulent activities taking place or about to take place with a view to blocking all revenue leakages from the system.
READ: Gunmen assassinate popular Kaduna politician
“The team is allowed to partake in the examination of any suspected container generated by the ICT,” he explained.
He added that the team would ensure that all unutilised Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) bill of lading, as well as air way bills was accounted for.
“They are to monitor the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) in order to checkmate capital flight and PAAR merchandise.
“This is what they are expected to do, their operation is fashioned this way to be in line with the demand of the executive order on the Ease of Doing Business,” Attah said.
He noted that the strike force would erect checkpoints rather than roam the highways except on credible information by the surveillance operatives of the Service.
“The strike force will treat the information and return to base. It is the desire of the CGC to sanitise the system for optimum performance.
“This particular strategy will enhance free flow of goods on our high ways.
“No hither land or highway patrol by the team, the surveillance team will work for 24 hours and their work is not intended to impede free flow of goods,” he added.
According to him, the team will be under the co-ordination of a Deputy Comptroller assisted by four Assistant Comptrollers of Customs.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
