“The Federal Operations Unit Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service urges the general public to support the Service with credible intelligence leading to arrest of smugglers, and prevention of prohibited goods from entering the West African country”
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Service, has said it seized smuggled items worth N4.5billion January this year, and recovered N192million as revenue within five weeks in the South-West region of the country.
Hussein Ejibunu, Acting Controller, FOU Zone A, who told reporters, gave a breakdown of the seizures to include 3,173 cartons of basmati rice at 5kg each, and 297 bags (25kg) foreign parboiled rice.
NCS personnel intercept a lorry load of bags of smuggled rice Photo: File
Others are 1,076 25litres kegs of PMS, 195 bales of used clothes, 51 parcels (39.5kg) of Indian hemp, 68 sacks of used clothes, 2,535 pieces of used tyres, 17 units of used vehicles, 206 used compressor, 7,557,400 tablets of 225mg Tramadol, seven units of used motorcycles, 21 bales of new bed sheet, and 57 units of used Plasma TV.
Ejibunu also disclosed that the NCS Unit’s anti-smuggling and revenue recovery activities will increase this year due to the support and logistics upgrade it received from the Nigeria Customs Service Management and Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd.), Comptroller-General of Customs.
The Acting Controller, FOU Zone A of the Customs further stated that the Command arrested 23 suspected smugglers out of whom five were given administrative bail, while 18 others are in the Unit’s custody.
The NCS Command, who condemned the murderous acts of killing Nigeria Customs officers by smugglers and their sympathisers, warned that the long arm of the law would not spare perpetrators of such killings in the country.
The Unit, he noted, will not be deterred in the performance of its duties and urged the public to support the NCS with credible intelligence that would lead to arrest of smugglers and the prevention of prohibited goods from entering the country.
…ConsumerConnect…
