The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Calabar Free Trade Zone/Akwa Ibom Area Command, has sought deepened collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council, for effective security information management towards the overall safety of the country’s borders.
The Customs Area Controller of the Calabar Free Trade Zone/Akwa Ibom Area Command, Comptroller Chukwudi Gabriel Ogbonna, made the call, recently, when he received a delegation from the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council, on a courtesy visit at the Command headquarters in Calabar.
Comptroller Ogbonna, who was later represented on the visit by his Deputy Comptroller – Revenue, E. A. Okon, described journalists as “critical stakeholders in the security of Nigeria and her citizens,” hence the need for synergy.
“Your coming here is a display of your Union’s commitment to the security of the nation. We will continue to collaborate with you to strengthen information management and enhance information dissemination for the security of the country, especially the nation’s borders,” the Customs official stated.
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The Comptroller also implored journalists in the state to assist the Customs Service in intelligence sharing through useful information about snuggling, illicit trade and other forms of criminal merchandise.
He appealed to media practitioners to sustain the advocacy against violent protests that are already plaguing several parts of the country.
On her part, the Chairman of Cross River State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Archibong Bassey, stated that the executive of the NUJ in Cross River State deemed it necessary to visit the Customs as a critical stakeholder in the security architecture of the state and nation at large.
The NUJ leader further lauded the Customs Area Command for reducing crime at the border areas of the state to its barest minimum.
She assured the leadership of the security body in the state of the NUJ’s continued readiness to partner with the Customs Service in enhancing the security of citizens’ lives and property.
The was a unanimous call by the two bodies for host communities to safeguard government properties in their host communities.