Some Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) personnel deployed to man Nigeria’s land borders have decried the non-payment of their allowances for two and a half years, leaving them in a deplorable working condition.
The personnel claimed that they had been stationed at the borders for over five years, dating back to the previous administration; a situation they said was unusual and discouraging.
Daily Trust reports that the immediate former National Security (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), then said that porous borders had remained a major source of concern as they aided smuggling of prohibited items and irregular migration, as well as other transnational organised crimes and human trafficking.
Monguno disclosed this in Paris, France, in 2021, at the Nigeria International Partnership Forum held on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Forum.
The statement came some months after the formation of the Joint Border Patrol by his office.
He further said, “Nigeria is bordered to the North by Niger Republic, to the East by Chad and Cameroon and to the South by the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean and to the West by Benin Republic.
“However, Nigeria’s excessive land and maritime borders are incredibly porous and poorly managed and this places further responsibility on the border security agencies.
“In this regard, the Nigeria Customs Service has developed the E-Customs strategy while the Nigeria Immigration Service put in place an integrated border management system.
“It is necessary to observe that both strategies place premium on employing technology to complement other existing physical border security arrangements.’’
‘We’re facing difficulties’
One of the security operatives deployed to the borders told the BBC Hausa Service yesterday that: “We are in a dire situation. We were deployed to the borders since President Buhari’s administration, and yet, we have not received our allowances for two and a half years.”
The personnel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described their living conditions as “miserable” and appealed to the authorities to address their plight.
He further said, “Initially, we were deployed alongside the army, the police and the DSS. We were being paid all the allowances on time before things eventually went South.
“We have not been paid for 18 months. This started during the final days of President Buhari.
“Another cause for concern is that, usually when personnel are deployed to such places, they shouldn’t stay for over two and a half years, but here we are, now at the borders for five years.