Undercover reporter Fisayo Soyombo who smuggled 100 bags of rice to expose corruption in Nigeria Customs, lists simple steps in dealing with the issue 

 

One of Nigeria’s prolific investigative journalists who usually goes undercover to expose government officials enabling crime, has suggested how the country could tackle several corruption related challenges bedeviling it. 

Soyombo, the publisher of Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), recently published a report of how he went undercover and imported 100 bags of rice from Benin Republic into Nigeria. 

The report detailed how rogue Customs officials enable smuggling by alerting the smugglers when smuggling  routes will be patrol-free. It was the intelligence obtained from rogue customs officials that the smugglers rely on to perpetuate their acts which undermines the Nigerian economy. Soyombo, as an undercover reporter, joined other smugglers in the risky trade and imported 100 bags of rice. 

After publishing his report, Soyombo has offered advice on how the Nigerian government can end smuggling and other crimes that undermine the country’s economy. 

He said: “If you want to tackle smuggling, clean Nigeria Customs up. There is no smuggling without the cooperation of Customs. Piercing.

“To end crime, reform the police. Crime cannot thrive without police involvement. While I was in prison for my undercover investigation in 2019, one inmate told me that back then in Akure, Ondo State, Yahoo boys fended off police harassment by formally introducing themselves to the Officer-in-Charge of SARS, and periodically ‘settling’ him! The audacity!

“Whenever the government is serious about ending insecurity, the work needs to start from the military. I found this out in 2013 in the villages of Plateau while investigating the brutality of their unending killings. Yes, T. Y. Danjuma was correct when, six years later, he said of the army: “they collude”.

“Not yet personally confirmed but I am sure: If you want to end dollar round tripping, look no further than the CBN and banks. How is the dollar so hard to obtain in banks but is always free-flowing in the parallel market?

“For almost every intractable Nigerian problem, look no further than the agency established to prevent it. The irony.”