The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has reached out to the Police and Nigeria Customs Service in Sokoto State to deepen existing working relationship between them.
A statement by the FRSC Zonal Office for Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, said the zonal officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Kayode Olagunju undertook the visit to the police and customs offices in the state.
The statement issued in Sokoto on Tuesday and signed by Aminu Alhaji, FRSC Zonal Public Education officer, said Olagunju met with Mr Umar Gimba, the Comptroller of Customs in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, and Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Mr Mohammed Mustafa also in charge of the three states.
He underscored the importance of collaboration between the organisations including Federal Inland Revenue Service on the use of modern technology in tackling problem of under payment of vehicles registration fees.
According to him, the use of appropriate technology will ensure that vehicles on which custom duties have not been paid are detected at the point of registration and owners of such vehicles are referred to customs for payment of the required duties.
READ ALSO: Japanese man on Aeromexico flight dies after swallowing 246 bags of Cocaine
He added that the idea of short-changing the government would be defeated if there was proper collaboration.
Responding, Gimba pledged to work more closely with the FRSC in that regard as well as sharing intelligence information, blocking revenue leakages and general improvement in national security.
The customs boss advised against smuggling and stated that his men were up to the task of thwarting the efforts of smugglers in the Zone.
He added that collaboration between the two organisations would provide enormous benefits to the nation.
While at the Zonal Police Headquarters, Olagunju appreciated existing cooperation between them on efforts to evolve better road culture in the Zone and called for more sustainable relationship.
He explained the role of FRSC included intelligence gathering as most crimes are committed on the road.
In his response, AIG Mustafa emphasised that effective synergy among security agencies was necessary for effective national security.
Mustafa appreciated the efforts of the FRSC in making the roads safer and stated that the task should be viewed as a collective responsibility.
The AIG called on all security agencies to further strengthen their collaborative efforts as bickering and rivalry would only lead to gaps in providing safety and security cover for the citizens. (NAN)
