By Igho Akeregha
Unanswered questions over how the Office of the National Security Adviser spent a whopping sum of N3.8 billion released by the Federal Government to fund a Joint Border Drill Exercise have led to disquiet among the participating services.

ThisNigeria learnt exclusively at the weekend that the fund, released last month was meant to pay for Duty Tour Allowances (DTA) of officers and men of five security agencies and other logistics for the joint border drill.

But barely two weeks after the fund was assessed, the source disclosed that N1.6bn of the amount could not be accounted for, while the allowances have not been cleared.

A source said, “As we speak, there is no sign on the ground that any money was spent for the Immigration, Customs, and the other agencies.”

Hundreds of security personnel were drawn from the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Police, Department of State Services, (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and the military to man key Nigerian land borders in a bid to check influx of illegal foreigners and prohibited items but have not been paid their mandatory allowances for almost 10 months, a source familiar with the situation said.

Curfew: Sokoto Govt suspends schools resumption

The inter-agency operation is supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) led by Maj Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd).

ThisNigeria was informed that trouble started last year when many of the officers threatened to abandon the borders over the non-payment of their DTAs. Hard hit were men of the Nigerian Customs Service and Immigration, who were directed to ensure total compliance with the ban on movements along the border routes.

Though the borders were reopened in December 2020, the operatives were retained and redesigned to continue surveillance and counter-smuggling and the exercise was changed to Joint Border Patrol.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), confirmed the change of status and expectations from the operation while speaking in February 2022.

“We just set up a joint border patrol. It is an offshoot of the joint border drill, which was the operation we launched to close our borders,” Ali said.

In addition to other responsibilities, the operatives were tasked to stop the importation of illegal arms and contraband goods as part of efforts to address rising security challenges while at the same time boosting local production of assorted food items like rice, and oil, among others.

The non-payment of the Duty Travel Allowance (DTA) for a long period is affecting the morale of officers and threatening a key security operation of the country, security sources familiar with happenings said.

The deployed officers are expected to contain smuggling and protect the territorial integrity of the country which is largely porous.

Highlights from 2022 AMVCA

Some of the affected personnel who spoke and confirmed their frustration on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said months of unpaid allowances had rendered them all covered in debts and unable to meet up obligations to hoteliers, landlords, and food vendors.

Besides low morale, officers involved in the exercise lamented that the government’s inability to meet up with its obligation is affecting the operation as it was becoming increasingly difficult to enforce discipline and ensure accountability in the line of duty.

The owed allowances were meant to cater for accommodation and feeding of the personnel who were deployed specifically to man the country’s borders following the closure of the land borders in August 2019.

The Federal Government, through the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had justified the closure of the land borders at the time, which she said would help address the proliferation of arms and influx of other contrabands.

The security operatives were deployed to key towns affected by the border closure including Idi-iroko, Seme, Jibia, Kamba, Kongolom, Maigatari, and Illela.

“Like with all special operations, we were posted from different areas to join this new operation and that was why we were entitled to DTA,” one customs officer said.

The deployed operatives were placed on a daily allowance of N12, 000 for officers and N6,000 for junior ranks.

While payments were made for the first few months of the operations, largely in arrears of two to three months, it became prolonged later with personnel having to wait for months before getting anything.

Last year, after a long delay, arrears for four months was paid. However, since May last year, not a dime was paid to the personnel in the name of the allowances.

Before the funds were released, it was learnt that ONSA wrote several letters to the finance ministry which has the mandate of funds releases.

Some operatives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, lamented that they have been neglected despite the enormous responsibility placed on them.

“Morale is low because there is no motivation, which is very important for the success of any operation,” a unit commander involved in the operation was quoted to have complained.

He said the personnel involved in the operation are being “made vulnerable to compromise”, with many of them owing hoteliers and giving out personal belongings as collateral.

“Our people are sacrificing. A number of our people have been killed either by smugglers or insurgents yet we have made huge recoveries all over the place. But with this nonchalant attitude, morale is honestly diving,” the source said.

Highlights from 2022 AMVCA

He explained that it was becoming increasingly difficult to enforce discipline as men often challenge their superiors or justify their acts of compromise.

Another source said “You see, most of the operatives deployed for such exercise were brought together from different places. They left their families behind to protect the territorial integrity of the country.

“I know that most VIPs especially politicians and chief executives of agencies collect their allowances long before they travel…It is therefore very sad to hear that security operatives who put their lives on the line are neglected.

“This attitude makes them prone to corruption because they are easily compromised by high profile smugglers who would give them a lot of money to have their way.

“There is a strong correlation between the infiltration of illegal arms and our porous borders. The federal government and the frontline state governments must come together and fund border security,” he said.

Several efforts made to speak to officials in the ONSA were not successful but a Public Relations Officer at the NIS headquarters, Amos Okpu, informed ThisNigeria that the payment of the allowances for Immigration officers is ongoing.

He, however, confirmed that there is a backlog of unpaid allowances which is being addressed.

While directing further inquiries to the ONSA, Okpu said, “It’s important that l inform you that it’s being coordinated by the ONSA with several agencies such as the police, military, customs, DSS, NIS, and others participating.

Northern Governors condemn murder of Deborah Samuel ,appeal for calm

“I do know that operatives in such exercises do get allowances which l learnt have accumulated. It’s also necessary that I inform you that NIS did not receive the N3.8bn.”

He explained that the approval threshold for a Comptroller-General does not exceed N10m for any expenditure, saying, “Anything above that goes to the supervising ministry for consideration. Note also that there are strict public procurement regulations that must be adhered to in applying government funds.”

Asked if the NIS received the money directly, the NIS spokesman said the present cashless policy and TSA regime won’t accommodate such.

Reacting to the fate of NIS personnel involved in the operation, he said, “I’m, however, aware that our operatives in that assignment have started receiving payments for some outstanding allowances running into several months in some instances.”