The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Saturday evicted some illegal occupants from its barracks in Abuja.
The service gave the illegal occupants in its barracks nationwide up till April 14 to leave or face eviction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that several occupants at Customs barracks in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja, were evicted.
A NAN correspondent at the scene saw foams, refrigerators, television sets, cooking stoves, clothes and other household items littering the barracks premises at Area B, Nyanya.
The operation in Nyanya was led by one Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSP) Dappa with a detachment of armed officers.
NAN recalls that a circular issued by the authorities last month listed four categories of illegal residents for eviction.
They include all retirees who have been in their flats for more than three months and all those transferred for three months but still occupy their flats.
Also affected are dependants of deceased officers who have yet to vacate their flats for more than six months after the death of their principle.
The circular also added “anybody occupying a flat without an allocation duly signed.’’
NAN learnt that one of the affected residents at the Area B Nyanya had lived in the barracks for more than 15 years after her husband’s transfer to Lagos.
“She turned part of her residence into a restaurant and the husband still maintains a customs flat in Lagos,’’ one of the officers on the eviction team said.
At another location in Nyanya, the widow of a deceased officer, who was said to be recovering from stroke, was not evicted.
“We had compassion on her when we saw the woman lying on her bed and the family members told us they had nowhere to go,’’ one officer said.
?A customs officer, who was transferred from Port Harcourt to Abuja, told NAN that she reported to her new duty post in February but had no accommodation.
“I have been squatting with a friend and till today I have not been allocated an accommodation,’’ said the officer, staying with a colleague in the Customs barracks in Nyanya.
NAN reports that a general complaint by some dependants of deceased customs officers is that they have not received entitlements of their principles, therefore they have nowhere to go.
But, Wale Adeniyi, NCS Head of Public Relations, said non-payment of entitlements could not be a justification to remain in the barracks indefinitely.
He told NAN in an interview on April 12 that the authorities had been magnanimous enough to allow affected officers and families to remain in the barracks after the mandatory stipulated time.
“You cannot be retired and stay in Customs quarters; there is no basis for that. You can still fight for you entitlements from outside Abuja,’’ the spokesman said.
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