NUJ President Denies Accusing Customs Of Theft

The President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Malam Mohammed Garba, has denied media reports that he accused officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of theft. Garba had in a news conference last Monday raised the alarm about the theft of three thousand dollars from his luggage on his way to Morocco, where he was elected as President of African Journalists Congress. But in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND yesterday, the NUJ president emphatically denied ever accusing officials of the NCS of theft or any wrongdoing, saying: “the money had indeed been stolen, but I did not rest the blame on the doorstep of any particular person or group, talk less of officials of the Nigerian Customs Service.”

Explaining further, Garba recalled that about one hour into their flight to Casablanca in Morocco, the Air Moroc flight developed some problems that necessitated a detour to Lagos, where they took off. 

We were checked into another aircraft after some hours of wait in a hotel. We left our luggage in the hands of the airline and only received them on arrival in Casablanca. 

So to be frank, I would not know whether the money was stolen in Lagos or Casablanca.”

Asked why he raised the alarm if he cannot narrow down the theft to any individual or group, Garba said he had to do so to draw the attention of all stakeholders in running of our airports, with the hope that measures could be taken to ensure this kind of embarrassment does not happen again.

Commenting on the incident, a frontline public affairs commentator and philanthropist, Dr. Mahdi Shehu assured that there was no way officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service of today could descend to the level of stealing from luggages of passengers, adding that “even corruption is now being wiped out of the Customs Service by the Comptroller General, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, who, in addition to multiplying the salary of the personnel, has also introduced a good incentive package that made the average customs officer see a lot of dignity in his work and esteem of his human person.”

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