Customs Strike Force under DC Shuaibu breaks record in outstanding performance
*Records N800million seizures in 3 weeks
(Written by Silas Onuoha):
Seized items displayed in the open before news men :
The Customs Strike Force zone ‘A’ under the leadership of A.B. Shuaibu, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs, has broken the record in outstanding performance on anti-smuggling drive.
DC Shuaibu, as the Coordinator of Zone ‘A’ Strike Force has demonstrated his competence through hard work and resilience, with massive seizures of 13 containers and other items worth N800million in Duty Paid Value (DPV).
Most outstanding is the fact that, he recorded this feat within only three weeks of operations, despite the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down economic activities in the country.
The seizures, which were displayed in the open before news men included foreign rice, container fully loaded with 934 cartons of shoes worth over N32.6million in DPV, 756 bales of Lace materials with DPV of N47.7million, 2,120 cartons of foreign cream and soap imported into the country illegally without NAFDAC registration number worth N25.7 million and 230 bales of second-hand clothing with DPV of N23.5million.
Addressing news men at the Customs Training College, Ikeja, Lagos, where the items were displayed, he informed;
“We are here determined to fight economic saboteurs. We are taking the battle to wherever they are. A man is not afraid to die for a life worth living.”
“Some items you see here were seized because they are prohibited while others were falsely declared by the importers, with the intention to evade duty payment to the Federal Government”.
He went on, “The Strike Force in Zone ‘A’ has two units, such as the ICT and Enforcement. We have intelligent and competent officers in both units. Through intervention of the ICT unit, we made seizures with DPV of over N350million. We seized 13 containers in three weeks and the total DPV is N800million within the period under review.”
Giving more explanation on why the items were seized, he said; “Lace material is not contraband but this container loaded with 756 bales of Lace was seized for false declaration.
The container loaded with 2,120 cartons of cream and soap has a DPV of N25.7million and was imported into the country without NAFDAC number. This case involves National security, because any product without NAFDAC number has negative health implications.”
DC Shuaibu and his men during the press conference, yesterday :
