Customs to strengthen border security with new innovation

In an effort to tighten the security within the borders, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has unveiled plans to deploy a Geospatial technology to strengthen border security, intelligence gathering and enforcement operations across border stations in the country.

The NCS Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘B’, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Oloyede Adekunle Stephen, revealed this during a working visit to the Katsina Area Command of the service on Tuesday.

He said the advanced technology and other innovative tools would be deployed to enhance the NCS surveillance, intelligence gathering and tackle smuggling across the nation’s borders.

He added that the technology-driven measures would not only help in curbing illicit goods and activities, but also facilitate legitimate and efficient cross-border trade in a transparent and accountable system.

Stephen emphasized the pivotal role of the advanced technology in modern border management, particularly in tackling smuggling, trafficking and other cross-border crimes bedevilling the country.

According to him, “Geospatial is a technology that will assist us in coordinated border management. The Geospatial technology and risk management are tools that we are going to deploy to assist officers in doing their job.

“We have mapped all borders and this will give us real time movement of goods and services and even human beings at the border stations. So, it will create timely intervention to avert movement of illicit goods, weapons and the rest.

“The CGC, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, was with the National Security Adviser and he presented this Geospatial technology which will be deployed very soon. It will be for national use not only for customs officers, but for other agencies that have to do with border management.”

He, however, urged officers that would be trained on the Geospatial technology and other innovative tools to step down the training to their respective commands in order to surmount the security challenges in the country.