Ogun Customs dares smugglers, arrests 3
…Intercepts vehicles, petroleum products at Idiroko border
By Silas Onuoha
The CAC and his team at the press briefing yesterday:
The dare devil smugglers operating at Idiroko area, the border between Nigeria and Republic of Benin are facing a hard time, as the Ogun State Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, is not giving them a breathing space.
The Command just intercepted 215 units of smuggled vehicles (popularly known as Tokunbo) brought in through illegal routes into the country. The Command also arrested three suspects in connection with smuggling in the area.
The Customs Area Controller, CAC, of the Command, Comptroller Michael Agbara revealed this at a press briefing, yesterday, in Idiroko.
Items seized by Ogun Command:
He said, “Other seizures recorded by our Command within this period include a total of 15,976 bags of foreign rice (50Kg each); 1,148 kegs of vegetable oil; 24 motorcycles (Okada); and 161 compressed packs of Indian hemp among other prohibited items, as you are seeing here”.
The CAC said, “In reviewing the activities of the Command within the last one month, we generated N393.5million, seized 37 smuggled vehicles and 3,000 bags of foreign rice among other contraband items. On the rice seizure, a particular truck intercepted around Mowe-Ibafo axis conveyed 600 bags packaged in branded bags of a local producer of rice, in a bid to escape security checks, but was caught by our men”.
The CAC also revealed that, “99 out of the 600 bags were local brand while 501 bags were smuggled foreign parboiled rice re-bagged in local bags. Also, one drone camera, 244 gallons of vegetable oil, 208 pairs of used shoes, 4,220 cartons of tomato paste and 115 gallons of petrol among others have been seized”.
His assertion, “Interestingly, we seized a drone at our parcel post when people think they can use it. If you want to buy drone, make sure you get an end user certificate. In this case, there is nothing like that. Since a month ago, we gave the person that bought it a chance to bring the end user certificate, but since he’s yet to come I don’t have any other choice than to seize it, that is the directive from government, which we must follow.”
In the same vein, the Command realised N2.6billion from January to June 2018, as revenue generation for half year.
The CAC emphasized that the Command would continue to carry out its statutory duties effectively, in order to curtail smuggling at Idiroko border.
