Illela: Smugglers haven
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday,
August 9, 2007
Surprise, surprise: There is a Nigerian town, where everyone
relies on smuggling. Without smuggling, on one could survive living around Illela
Border in Sokoto State . At Illela, a northwestern Nigerian settlement near Birnin
Koni in southern Niger Republic , the smuggler is king. Such is the relevance
of the illegal trans-border trade at Illela that everyone looks up to the smuggler.
At
that frontier settlement, aborigines of surrounding villages and government officials
are all guilty of aiding and abetting smuggling. But the truth is that the Nigerian
government offers them no choice.
Going by the Federal Government’s
Import Prohibition List, it is illegal to import water in any form into the country.
However, huge volumes of water are daily brought from Niger Republic to the Nigerian
settlement of Illela, whose residents have no local source of drinking water.
Interestingly, consumers of this illicit import include security operatives,
such as personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), who are supposed to keep
out contraband of all sorts. It is worth noting, however, that were NCS officers
to enforce total compliance with the ban on water imports at Illela, the entire
border post would be abandoned, except by those that would rather die from thirst
or dehydration.
Welcome to Illela, where by omission or commission successive
Nigerian governments at all strata have made the smuggler so important that, to
some local folks, such economic saboteur is now seen as more useful than political
leaders.
Illela Border
Illela is the visitor’s
first contact with Nigeria , coming from Birnin Koni in Niger Republic . Unfortunately
most tourists arrive to find Nigeria in darkness because the old generator at
that border station frequently fails. Sources said the 27 KVA plant was installed
at Illela more than 12 years ago. Illela Border lies roughly 89km from Sokoto
City . Sokoto State was carved out of the old North Western State in 1976, and
the trip to the border settlement from the state capital would take the tourist
through Kware, Gwadabawa and so on. Illela Town which is seat of Illela LGA of
Sokoto boasts a large motor park near the local mart, which is called an international
market.
To be sure, Illela International Market lives up to its name,
for traders from Niger Republic , Burkina Faso , Nigeria and elsewhere converge
every Sunday to do business. The foreigners travel to the Nigerian emporium for
foodstuffs and manufactured goods most of the time, and the tourist could easily
get a clue as to the wares that attract visiting traders to Illela International
Market from the items stacked in front of the shops that border both sides of
the road coming from Sokoto. Such is the commercial importance of Illela Town
that the local branch of First Bank of Nigeria , near the International Market,
never knows a dull moment.
The economic tempo of Illela Town has also
lured countless Nigerians from the southern parts of the country to the northwestern
frontier settlement. Inside the motor park and around the international mart,
the tourist would notice the plenitude of Yoruba people, who run eateries called
"buka," where "amala," the famous morsel meal or "farrin"
made from yam flour or cassava powder is served. We also noticed that many of
the commercial vehicle operators at Illela Park were natives of southwestern Nigeria
settlements. In the same vein, it was observed that Igbo people owned many provision
shops, drug stores and what have you, on either side of the road leadings to Illela
Border.
In many ways, Illela hints at rapid development, commercial prowess
and economic boom. Interestingly, Illela Border is very different from the hustle
and bustle atmosphere of Illela Town , which stands 1.6km from the frontier station.
Several
GSM networks now cover Illela Town , whereas the settlement was virtually cut
off from the world, barely two years ago. Although the border town is electrified,
inhabitants rely on private generator most of the time, due to the epileptic nature
of public power supply. Illela LGA now boasts a recently opened public hospital,
aside three private-run clinics. But curiously, countless residents prefer to
attend Adgarmi Hospital in "Republique du Niger."
Illela’s
development could mislead one into taking the place for an ancient settlement.
The truth, however, is that Illela Town is barely two centuries old, going by
information got from a local community leader, Alhaji Muhammadu Musa, who holds
the title of "Seriki Alaru." Mallam Musa, who is a native of Illela,
said the town was founded during the Uthman Dan Fodio Jihad. During that war,
Mullah Uthman had stopped over at a town called Gungu, now known as Kalmalo in
Niger Republic . According to 45-year-old Mallam Musa, the Jihadists had been
well-received and in appreciation of the locals’ hospitality, Mullah Uthman
had advised the inhabitants of Gungu to relocate to Allela, adjacent to Gungu
(Kalmalo).
The villagers had moved to their new home, the name of which
subsequently got corrupted to Illela.
Mr. Dalhatu Halilu Muazu, an Assistant
Comptroller of Customs is OC of Illela Border. Alhaji Dalhatu, who was deployed
from Port Harcout Area 1 Command, would clock one year at his current station
on August 16. The assistant comptroller, who had earlier served at various border
stations in the northeastern part of the country, observed that the Kirawa as
well as Nguru and Gaidam landscapes, all in the northeast, are very different
from Illela.
Hear him: "The Kirawa and Mandara areas offer natural
barriers such as hills, mountains, and rivers et cetera to smugglers, whereas
the open plains of Illela, a flat landmass, are almost motorable at all points.
In fact, as we speak, there are as many as 40 routes from here to Sokoto. This
makes our operation here very, very challenging."
With that, this
OC didn’t have to say more, when we realized the 40 or so officers at Illela
rely on just one patrol vehicle. AC Muazu however said that through physical patrols,
and public enlightenment locals have been made more appreciative of the harm that
smuggling could do to a people’s economy and health. "Our team has
also managed to reduce illegal trans-border trade considerably," the OC enthused.
With regard to communication, Muazu said field radio to enable the station and
patrol teams keep in touch was necessary.
Although Illela Border boasts
several blocks of flats, most of the structures are so dilapidated as to be considered
unsafe for human habitation. In fact, the roofs of some of the buildings had since
collapsed, which explained the quip from Muazu that "Officers serving at
Illela are accommodated but not quartered." This, he expatiated, means that
there are enough vacant rooms to go round, but each beneficiary must cough out
huge sums to renovate his block and buy bed, other furniture and utensils to equip
the house.
The Nigerian northwestern frontier posts of Illela and Kamba
are very different, even though both settlements lead into the same country of
Niger Republic . Illela, the border town in Sokoto State , is busier by far compared
to the Kebbi State settlement of Kamba. Such is the importance of Illela that
a branch of First Bank with Automated Teller Machine (ATM) operates there, unlike
Kamba, which offers no banking facility, whatsoever. Illela’s prosperity
must have gained from its proximity to the ancient Niger Republic settlement of
Birnin Koni, and vice versa. Both Illela and Birnin Koni are densely populated
unlike the sparely inhabited villages of Kamba and neighbouring Gaya .
It is also possible that the bridge over River Niger in Niger Republic actually
poses a barrier to a certain class of commuters. This bridge is reminiscent of
the one linking Mfum in southeastern Nigeria to Ekok in the Cameroons , in the
sense that it makes smuggling virtually impossible as no vehicle crossing it could
evade scrutiny by security operatives on either side. Contrarily, Illela and Birnin
Koni are land borders and the entire surrounding sandy terrain offers ample access
to both human and vehicular traffic.
In Kamba, I looked around for a member
of the national youth service, but was told this was like searching for a needle
in a haystack, since most fresh graduates posted on national service to Kamba
try to avoid that assignment. Residents say that border area is akin to the end
of this world. Now, you see why some workers deployed to Kamba see such posting
as punitive.
Re-visit to never-changing Kamba
Kamba
is a border post that has remained virtually unchanged since our first visit there
in 1995. Currently the seat of Dandi LGA of Kebbi State , Kamba stands roughly
150 minutes’ drive from Sokoto town, beyond Kalgo and Bunza LGAs. The voyage
to Kamba took us through Bado area of Sokoto Town and 15 minute later, we were
traversing Sifawa Village . Within 25 minutes after departure from Sokoto, the
vehicle turned right toward Goshe Town . About one hour’s drive from Sokoto,
we were already inside the Kebbi State fishing festival town of Argungu . We also
noticed the town of Ambursa along the way.
It is note-worthy that the current
Comptroller General of the NCS, Elder Jacob Gyang Buba, years ago twice served
as OC Kamba Border, between 1977 and 1980. When we visited Kamba in the mid-1990s,
Superintendent E. S. Obire served as helmsman there. During another trip in 2005,
we met Mr. S.E. Adoki as OC. The Rivers State-born man had given us a warm welcome
but would not speak about his station because, as he put it, "there is no
authorization to do so." Sadly, Mr. Adoki was one of the victims of the plane
crash that also claimed the life of the immediate-past Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji
Mohammadu Maccido.
With regard to telephone services at this border area,
the situation has improved markedly from what we met during previous visits. Then,
officers at the Nigerian border posts relied on GSM networks in neighboring countries,
for calls to their offices and families. Thus, one could safely say that a major
burden has been taken off the back of security personnel working at Kamba. Another
positive development is that Kamba Border now has a mini water works, and officials
there are not at the mercy of water smugglers, who on a daily basis cross the
border to fetch water abroad. Nonetheless, the chorus of those working at Kamba
was that the borehole built through funding by the Headquarters of the NCS cannot
serve the community most of the time due to frequent power outages.
Mr.
Daniel Toyon, head of the NCS station at Kamba revealed darkness in that area
was not always due to blackout from PHCN. Mr. Toyon, a Chief Superintendent of
Customs (CSC), explained that though lack of electricity was a big problem, the
frequent falling of poles carrying electricity transmission cables worsens the
situation. Hear him: "After a storm, we normally discover that the poles
have fallen again. Since the poles are usually not restored within a short time,
the community is deprived of electricity for many days; and during that period,
our borehole cannot work." CSC Toyon assumed duty at Kamba in 2006 and would
clock a year at that frontier post on August 18.
The soft-spoken Badagry-born
officer is the 46th head of Kamba Station. Despite the ghost-town ambience around
Kamba Border, this northwestern frontier is older by four years, than the ever-bustling
Seme Border in southwestern Nigeria , which opened in 1978. The founding NCS chief
of Kamba was Mr. B. M. Marte, who served there from May 1974 to August 1975. During
our latest trip to Kamba, we also met other officers namely, Mr. Ikediachi, O.C
Operations; CSC S. J Aliyu, DSC A.B Mohammed, DC S. A. Abdul, apart from CSC Toyon.
Toyon is not a stranger to working at frontier stations, having served
at Mfum and Ikang in Cross River State vicinal to the Cameroons . The superintendent
said there are enough quarters for the 24 NCS staff at Kamba. Such is the plethora
of accommodation at Kamba that the local NCS plays host to operatives of other
agencies at that border station However; the local NCS blocks need urgent renovation,
from what we saw.
Furthermore, the customs team desperately requires some
patrol vehicles because the one they used to work with had broken down since December
2006. As a result, that outpost now relies solely on an antique Peugeot car that
is probably more than 25 years old. Commending Comptroller Musa Hwere, Customs
Area Controller (CAC) of Kebbi/Sokoto/Zamfara Area Command, and the NCS Headquarters
for efforts made to improve the working environment at Kamba, Toyon also expressed
appreciation to the District Head of Kamba, Alhaji Mahmud Zarummai, Mudi II of
Shiko.
According to Toyon, that district head, who was described as a
"very well-informed retired civil servant," has been very helpful in
fostering cooperation between the local community and the security personnel working
at Kamba. Issues bordering on efficiency of security personnel and welfare of
the community, among others, are ironed out at the monthly meeting of the Customs
Community Relations Forum (CCRF), which holds at the local government secretariat,
Toyon concluded.
NCS Sokoto in a nutshell
The Sokoto/Kebbi/Zamfara
Command boasts 357 officers and men working at its headquarters as well as 10
approved borders. These frontier posts are Illela, Gada, Sabon Birnin, Kamba,
Maje, Dole-Kaina, Bagudo, Bachaka, Kanigwa and Yauri. Akin to other NCS commands
across the nation, Sokoto, Kebbi Zamfara Command is bedeviled with numerous problems.
The most pressing of these include inadequacy of functional patrol vehicles for
the effective surveillance of the land borders; lack of adequate funds for the
repair of patrol vehicles and renovation of dilapidated office and residential
buildings, both at the Command Headquarters in Sokoto and various outstations.
According to the CAC, other headaches include lack of modern communication
equipment; want of portable water and electricity supply at the outstations. In
fact, with the exception of Kamba, all the border stations lack functional borehole.
Despite these drawbacks, the Kebbi/Sokoto/Zamfara Command of the NCS has
been pursuing its tasks with undiluted dedication. With regard to revenue collection,
for example, the command made commendable strides in this area in the second quarter
of this year, when from April to June it grossed more than N28 million.
This translates as over 40 per cent of its revenue target for 2007, which is less
than N68 million. Furthermore, the N28 million netted in three months averages
at roughly N9 million monthly, over and above the command’s projected monthly
target of less than N6 million. Such is the resolve of this command, when it comes
to revenue collection that during his chat with "Travels" the CAC enthused:
"It is expected that if the level of achievement recorded in the last two
months of the period under review is maintained, then the Command will be able
to achieve the target and even surpass it at the end of the year."
An
intrinsically sincere man, Comptroller Hwere, however, rued that the income showed
a drop in the first quarter against last year’s figures in the corresponding
period.
"The reason for this shortfall," he explained, could
be attributed to the political activities in the country, which characterized
the better part of the period under review." During the elections, "most
of the stakeholders were actively involved in the political process," he
reasoned. Another factor for the shortfall could be attributed to the Federal
Government fiscal policies, which placed a ban on the importation of some items
through certain land borders, we gathered.
The Comptroller Hwere-led command
has also proved very competent as regards enforcement and anti-smuggling drives.
The command’s anti-smuggling war led to 47 seizures at various locations
in the first half of this year. These interceptions yielded seizures of vehicles,
textiles, scrap metal, used tyres, rice, petroleum products and so on, with duty
paid value in excess of N61 million, as at June 30. Hwere and his men actually
began with vigorous enlightenment campaigns in the year’s first quarter,
when the CAC embarked on various interactive sessions with stakeholders during
tours of the border stations under his precinct.
Such meetings under the
Customs Community Relations Forum (CCRF) helped to further sensitize members of
the public on various Government policies on trade. The meetings also served to
highlight the advantages inherent in the prompt payment of duty on Imports and
proper documentation of Export.
However, this command boasts a fleet of only
20 patrol vehicle, in spite its vast area.
The situation would have been
worse but for the recent addition of two brand-new Nissan Patrol Jeeps to the
command’s fleet. "We are indeed very grateful for the support of the
Management team in this regard," Hwere remarked. He, however, added: "Looking
at the vast size and nature of our land border with Niger Republic and Benin Republic
, the Command needs more patrol vehicles to be able to tackle smuggling activities
effectively in the Area."
From Sokoto to Illela and Kamba
Our
latest journey to the northern frontier settlements of Illela and Kamba in Sokoto
and Kebbi State respectively began in Sokoto City , aka "Seat of the caliphate."
We started from Sokoto Town because that ancient settlement is where the headquarters
of the Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)
is located. That command was established in 1982 and its founding head was Mr.
I. A. Apata, then a Principal Collector.
In its early days, the local NCS
hub stood along Rijia Road but the office was later moved to Bida Road and it
was there we met the incumbent CAC, Comptroller Hwere, an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU), Zaria, where he took a Bachelor’s degree in Political
Science in 1979.
For inexplicable reasons, this command and some of its outstations
show a high rate of turnover of leaders, which explains why Hwere is the 17th
CAC at Sokoto. And at Kamba, for another example, the current Officer-in-Charge
(OC) is the 46th, since that outpost of Sokoto Command opened in 1974!
To
some observers, the northwestern corner of Nigeria might seem remote but Kebbi,
Sokoto and Zamfara States are among the most accessible in terms of communication.
Although air travel is virtually impossible in these parts, apart from Sokoto,
which once served as capital of the old state, where Kebbi and Zamfara emerged
from; northwestern Nigeria boasts one of the nation’s best road networks.
Be it from southwestern Nigeria through Ibadan to Ilorin , Jebba, Kontagora in
Niger Sate via Yelwa and so on, the tourist can reach Birnin Kebbi, Gusau and
Sokoto, capital cities of Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto States respectively across
comparatively very smooth roads. The three northwestern states can also be accessed
via neighbouring West African countries such as Benin Republic and Republic of
Nigeria . Such is life in Nigeria’s northwestern corner for you. |
