Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — An officer of the Port and Terminal Multi-Purpose Limited Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, was recently apprehended for stealing from a vessel he officially boarded to carry out official duties.
The officer, whose name could not immediately be ascertained, was seen with several items he took from the vessel. He was caught by the Chief Security Officer of the terminal, who ordered him to return the items or have the matter escalated to higher authority.
The Customs officer, it was gathered, shamefully apologised and returned the stolen items to the Captain of the vessel.
Reacting to the development, the Customs Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr. Yakubu Mohammed, said the story was not true and that if such an incident had occurred, the Chief Security Officer of the terminal would have brought it to the notice of the Comptroller.
Security agents, in the course of carrying out official duties on vessels that call at the nation’s seaports, have been known to pilfer from such vessels, a development that has become worrisome to the shipping community.
Most times, when the security agents go on board vessels, they go with empty bags, but these bags would become full to the brim when they are disembarking.
