10th July, 2014
The Federal Government on Wednesday said it would take comprehensive action against smuggling and other cross-border crimes.
Labaran Maku, Minister of Information said this at after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Maku said that smuggling was not only a threat to national security but is a continuous cause to huge economic losses.
“Mr President hinted the council that government will be taking a comprehensive action to deal with the issue of smuggling across our borders with all the attendant security threats.
“It is the belief of Mr President that the country continues to suffer sustained economic losses when people smuggle across the country and cause a lot of economic difficulties. Apart from the damage it causes the economy of the country, it leads to loss of jobs across sectors.”
“The area that has become worrisome is the issue of cross-border crimes that accompany smuggling,” he said.
Osita Chidoka, Corps Marshal of the FRSC, briefed the council on the country’s progress in implementation of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, noting that, it was a resolution adopted by UN General Assembly aimed at improving road safety globally.
He said the 10-year action plan was expected to be implemented by governments of member countries between 2011 and 2020.
Nigeria is ranked above average across the five pillars of the UN resolution by acclaimed international audit firm, Prize Waterhouse Cooper.
He said that the ranking was a huge achievement for Nigeria, which was previously regarded as a low performing country in terms of road safety.
Chijoka said that the FRSC Corp Marshall attributed the success story to the “unprecedented growth witnessed by the FRSC under the Jonathan’s administration”.
He said that the President Goodluck Jonathan was decorated as the Grand Patron of the Special Marshals in appreciation of his contribution to road safety.
The Special Marshal is the volunteer arm of the FRSC empowered to apprehend road traffic violators, among other functions.
“For the first time in the history of the FRSC, the president was decorated as the Grand Patron of the Special Marshals. This decoration is not only by virtue of the fact that he is Mr President, it is anchored on the fact we have witnessed unpredicted growth in the activities of the FRSC under him.
“As we were making his investiture, we pointed out that our staff strength has grown from 11,000 that we met in 2007 when I took over to about 19,000 staff today.
“Our patrol vehicle population has grown by about 357 per cent from just over 170 then to over 800 that we have today across the country,” he said.