Multiple checkpoints along Lagos Badagry expressway, a disgrace to Nigeria- Customs 
The Controller, Seme Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Wale Adenuga on Monday described multiple checkpoints along Lagos Badagry expressway as a disgrace to Nigeria.
Adenuga disclosed this Stakeholders Engagement Meeting with security agencies, traditional rulers, community leaders, business partners, customs agents and youth in Seme.
According to Adenuga, with the support of my Comptroller General of Customs Adewale Adeniyi, I will not rest until the checkpoint is reduced to minimal level in this corridor.
“The time wasting along Lagos Badagry expressway is disturbing. You will see queue of vehicles on the expressway waiting for security operatives checking.
“It is embarrassing to see as much as 10 immigration checkpoints, 20 Police checkpoints 15 customs points doing same work along the expressway.
“Enough is enough, we should have fear of the God in our hearts. I will not rest until I achieve this,” he said.
Adenuga said the engagement was designed to create a frank platform for dialogue among key players in border operations, with the goal of enhancing trade facilitation and security.
He emphasized the need for collective honesty and cooperation among stakeholders to address the challenges bedeviling the border axis.
“We want everyone to express their minds and tell ourselves the bitter truths. The more we facilitate legitimate trade, the better for our country. When trade thrives, crime reduces,” he said.
Group Capt. M. Medugu, Nigeria Air Force Forward Operations Base at Ahanve, Badagry, speaking on behalf of military formations in the area assured the controller that the military would support the CAC in fulfillment of the tasks.
Meanwhile, Chief Tunde Giro, the Depegan of Badagry kingdom, representing Akran of Badagry said youths in Badagry had been planning to protest on excesses of security agencies on the expressway.
Giro said the operatives along the corridor were causing unnecessary delay and extorting the residents, calling on the controller to arrest the situation.
Chief Joseph Agoro, a community leader in Apa, Badagry, decried the persistence of unwholesome practices along the Seme route and called on security agencies and border communities to unite in tackling issues.
According to Agoro, the operatives actions are tarnishing Nigeria’s image and hinder regional commerce.
The community leader said that majority of the fight and quarrels on the border corridor is caused by camp boys recruited by security agencies along the border route.
Alhaji Yusuf Bashir, the Community Development Committee (CDC) Badagry-West Local Council Development Area, Lagos urged customs to support the community with infrastructural projects.
Speaking earlier, the Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, Mr Olukayode Aluko, represented by the Defense Attache, Col. S. Yahaya, assured that the takeaways from the summit would be fully implemented.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that agencies at the meeting include National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Army, Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), traditional rulers, and trade associations, including freight forwarders and community leaders