The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), South-South Zonal Centre, has presented electronic body scanners to boat operators in Calabar as part of efforts to prevent the smuggling and trafficking of illicit arms through maritime corridors into Cross River State.
The presentation was made on Monday at the NCCSALW South-South Zonal Office in Calabar, in the presence of management staff of the Centre, as part of measures to strengthen collaboration with boat operators in monitoring the state’s maritime corridors.
The Zonal Director of the Centre, Alex Ebimiebo, PhD, presented the two scanners to the Chairman of Boat Operators, Safe Journey Beach, Marina, Calabar, Comrade Samuel Bassey Johnson, for use at strategic points along the waterfront.
Ebimiebo said the gesture was intended to strengthen collaboration between the Centre and boat operators and enhance their capacity to support efforts to curb the movement of illicit weapons through the state’s waterways.
“We need your collaboration and support to enable the Centre to carry out its mandate,” Ebimiebo said, adding that the Centre was prepared to provide necessary support to stakeholders whose cooperation could help it achieve its objectives.
He said the provision of the scanners was in fulfilment of the Centre’s commitment to empowering boat operators to work effectively with security personnel in monitoring activities around the maritime corridors.
“Today, this is in fulfilment of that commitment, and here we have the two body scanners which we requested for,” he said.
The Zonal Director directed the boat operators to deploy the scanners at strategic points and ensure that they were used strictly for the purpose for which they were provided.
He also urged the operators to handle the equipment with care, noting that they were government property and would therefore be subject to accountability.
Ebimiebo further encouraged the union to sustain its cooperation with the Centre and its personnel, stressing that the scanners represented part of the government’s support to strengthen the operators’ role in securing the waterways.
Receiving the equipment, Johnson expressed appreciation to the NCCSALW for the gesture and pledged the cooperation of boat operators in efforts to prevent the transportation of illicit arms and other prohibited items through the waterways.
Johnson said the scanners would strengthen the union’s ability to support security agencies in monitoring activities at the waterfront, assuring that the equipment would be properly deployed and handled responsibly in furtherance of efforts to keep the maritime corridors safe.
By Kingsley Agim
