Importers' Taskforce raises alarm over arrest of officials
Lagos -- The Special Taskforce of Importers Association of Nigeria, IMAN, has raised THE alarm over the arrest of some of its officials and members in Lagos State.
The Director General of the IMAN Special Taskforce, Ambassador Chijioke Okoro, who spoke with newsmen in
Abuja, said that the arrest of its members was a ploy to protect the interest of some illegal importers specialised in t h e importation of banned and illegal substances into the countr y.
He noted that there has been a n unfortun ate misunder standing between its operatives and officers of the Lagos State Police command.
He said that these issues had already attracted the attention of the Inspector General of Police, who has directed proper investiga tion into the unlaw ful arrest o f IMAN Special T a s k f o r c e operatives.
According to him, “The IMAN Special Taskforce was inaugurated by the President Yar’Adua administration and has been operating legally with full backing of Nigeria’s security agencies.
“In a recent video made public by the Punch, the Lagos State Police command had paraded some operatives of the IMAN Special Taskforce, who they claimed were illegally operating at the Lagos ports”.
Okoro added that there was an alleged importation of a banned substance into the country, by an importer, after which its operatives swung into action to intercept the container laden with the banned substances.
Speaking in the same vein, the Secretary General of the IMAN special taskforce, Alhaji. Aliyu Yar’Adua, said that: “Unemployment has been the major bane of our country, and so the necessity to move Nigeria to greater heights is indispensable through checkmating importers taking undue advantage of the economy”.