Customs FOU Zone ‘A’ in another massive seizures
.Impounds N1bn items, 30 exotic cars
.Arrests 14 suspects
By Silas Onuoha
Comptroller Uba while briefing news men yesterday:
The Federal Operations Unit ,FOU, Zone ‘A’ of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, is in the news again for another massive seizures of prohibited items smuggled into the country through the back door. The Unit from April 10th to May 15th , 2018, recorded seizures estimated at a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N1billion, even as it made underpayments recovery of about N28.8million within this short period.
The Customs Area Controller, CAC, of FOU Zone ‘A’, Comptroller Mohammed Uba disclosed this at a press briefing yesterday, saying that his Unit also arrested 14 suspects in connection with the seized items.
According to him, the Unit seized about 30 exotic vehicles within the same period. These include seven Toyota Hilux (2018 models); three Toyota Prado Jeep (2017 models), one Range Rover and one Ford Edge (2015 model).
He said, “The seized items include 5,516 bags of foreign rice (9 trailers), 1,078 cartons of frozen poultry products, 216 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 173 bales of used clothing, 683 pieces of used tyres and eight sacks of Indian Hemp, weighing 134kg among others. Our Unit also impounded two containers with numbers MSKU130295/2 and MRKU877714/0, with a DPV of over N25 million for false deceleration”.
Comptroller Uba enthused, “Let me commend the officers and Men of the Unit for living up to their statutory responsibilities in tackling smuggling, blocking all revenue leakages and enhancing trade facilitation towards sustaining best international standards.
We are unflinching with our mandates and no method of distraction will deter us from performing our statutory duties”.
The words of Comptroller Uba, “We must continue to make this zone uncomfortable for smugglers to operate, while urging Nigerians to be patriotic and report smuggling activities in their areas to the service. Intelligence provided will be treated in confidence. Let me advise these economic saboteurs and fraudulent importers to invest their resources in legitimate trade and desist from illicit business, as the Service and indeed the Unit will continue to arrest and prosecute them”.
“For the avoidance of doubt, after the Court processes and condemnation, the Presidential Committee on Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, chaired by the Comptroller-General of Customs, CGC, Hameed Ali, approved evacuation of the following items to Borno State Government, for distribution to IDPs, through the Nigerian Army Corps of supply and Transport, NASCT, 25,318 bags of rice (42 Trailers), 3,366 jerrycans of oil, 175 gallons of vegetable oil (5liters each), 1,564 bales/122 sacks of second hand clothing and 196 sacks/ 938 pairs of used shoes. Hence, the reason these trucks are lined up by the Government warehouse, as you can see.”
“I am using this opportunity to thank CGC Hameed Ali, and the entire management of the Service for their untiring logistics support, which brought about this feat, as well as the media for their continuous reportage of our activities.”
