Posted by Taiwo Rasak on
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to stop the massive smuggling of footwear into the country through Calabar and Ikom.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to stop the massive smuggling of footwear into the country through Calabar and Ikom.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos on Thursday, chairman of MAN's Footwear subsector, Rev. Mike Ajado, said that unless government moved decisively to check the activities of footwear smugglers, their illicit activities would not only sabotage the economy but also wreck efforts at encouraging local production.
According to him, investigations by his group revealed that sub-standard footwears were being smuggled from Douala through Ekok to Kumba and Calabar, adding that it was done with the assistance of Customs officers at the Nigeria/Cameroun border.
He stated further that the smugglers, who usually brought in the footwears in locally-made speed boats, were allowed to berth at the creeks in Calabar by Customs officers after paying N10,000 per big boat, adding that the criminals were regularly escorted by armed policemen.
While commending the efforts of the Customs Comptroller-General, at checking the scourge, Ajado urged the Customs high command to check the activities of its personnel at the border points at Calabar and Ikom.
He also called on the Presidency to check the porous nature of the waterways in Calabar axis and monitor the activities of security agents there.
SATURDAY PUNCH, August 06, 2005