*Receives 10 Unit Of Brand New Toyota Hilux.
By Silas Onuoha
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Ogun 1 Command under the watch of Comptroller Dera Nnadi, has recorded over 172.9 million seizures in just one month.
Briefing journalists
on the scorecard of the command on Wednesday 24th November 2021, Compt. Nnadi informed.
“You will recall that I assumed office
as Customs Area Controller of the Command on 18 October 2021,
exactly one month and six days today.
Let me use this opportunity to thank the Comptroller
General of Customs Col Ibrahim Hammed Ali Rtd and the
management of the Service for considering me worthy of not only
being promoted to the rank of Comptroller, but for being deployed
as the Customs Area Controller of Ogun 1 Command.
“This is a conferment of responsibility that I will not take for
granted. It is a call for continuous service for which my officers
and men with the support of the stakeholders must accomplish to
the best of our ability.
It is in justification of this promise that we are here to share with
you the record of our activities in our core areas of revenue
generation, anti-smuggling operation and stakeholder’s engagement especially in ensuring that we strike a balance
between trade facilitation and application of control at a closed
border since I assumed office as the Customs Area Controller
from 18 October 2021 to 23 November, 2021.
“Before I proceed, may I inform you that for an effective antismuggling operations, the Command has just taken delivery of 10
units of brand new Toyota Hilux vehicles
Thanking the Comptroller
General of Customs and the Management , the CAC said.
“It is a demonstration of Management support and encouragement
to Ogun 1 Command. It is proof of Management commitment to
quality service delivery to the nation. This gesture will no doubt
enhance our operation and improve our performance.
During the period under
review, the Command records
seizures of Seven Thousand Three Hundred and Eleven (7311)
bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice. Equivalence of 12
trailer loads, It also
translates to 365, 550 kg or 365.55 metric tons of foreign
parboiled rice.
Compt. Nnadi said.
“The above emphasis is deliberate to show that this quantity of rice,
if allowed into the Nigerian market will affect the federal
government rice policy negatively. Recall that a rice cooperative
farm in Ogun State (specifically at Imeko Afon) with the active
support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Government and
World Bank just last week harvested 2600 metric tons of paddy
rice.
This is major win for the Command as we celebrate these farmers
who are testimonies and justification of the Service anti-smuggling
effort in support of local rice productions in the country.
Other seizures recorded in their various quantities
during the same period under review includes
Vegetable oil: 12 kegs of 25 liters size, that Is 300 liters
Used vehicle means of conveyance: 20 units
Used motorcycle means of conveyance: 2 units
Used clothings: 4 bales of 25kg each and sacks
Used shoes: 26 sacks
• Cannabis sativa: 124 sacks booksize and 165 wraps coconut
size weighing 637 kg
Used tyers: 2 bundles and 4 piece with rims
Pms: 831 kegs of 25 liters each, 20,775 liters in all
Frozen poultry products: 810 cartons
Used toys: 4 sacks
With the cumulative duty paid value (DPV)
of N172,999,387.00
Speaking on revenue, Comptroller Dera stated, “the command generated a total of
N2,437,050.00 during the period under review, which are mainly
proceeds of auction sales of seized petroleum products (PMS) and
scrap metals. It should be noted that Federal Government of
Nigeria’s directive on border closure is still subsisting, hence,
there is no revenue generated from imports activities.
Reacting on the achievement of the command within the short time, Compt. Nnadi further said.
“We are deploying massive intelligence and are also deploying rules
of engagement in all our operations. This has yielded greater
successes being recorded on daily basis without casualties.
We have extended our stakeholders engagement to include
continuous interactions with critical stakeholders in the
Command. To this end, we have been engaging the youths who
form the bulk of the human capacity asset in Ogun State
particularly at the border areas. We have also been engaging the elders of the communities who in
all honesty have a good knowledge and understanding of the
challenges of enforcing government policy in the border especially
as the borders remain closed.
We have also been engaging with royal fathers of the state and has
appealed to them to warn their subjects to desist from smuggling
and attacks on Customs personnel. Let me use this medium to
thank them for accepting to continuously help in this direction.
“We
are also reaching out to the state governor who is the chief
security officer of the state in this direction and the future looks
mutually very rewarding for Nigeria Customs Service and the
state.
Sounding his warning for smugglers he emphasized,
“we shall definitely uncover every illegal
act of criminals, make arrest and inflict gross financial injury on such
ventures and their perpetuators.
It suffices to say that the continuous attacks on Customs and other
security operatives in the state by these unpatriotic people will not
deter us from sustaining the onslaught on their smuggling
activities. We are determined more than ever before to carry out
our anti- smuggling operations without hindrance.
