The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja has intercepted various contraband and other goods on detention with a duty paid value(DPV ) of One Billion, Ten Million, Two hundred and Ninety -Five Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty Naira, Two Kobo (N1,010,295,660,2)
The Customs Area Controller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja Lagos , Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba who disclosed this to journalists in his office said the contraband were intercepted between April 10th to May 15th, 2018 through the intelligent information of the officers of the command.
Compt. Garba said in the same vein, the unit through its interventions recovered Twenty Eight Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Eighty Eight Naira only (N28,860,788.00) from underpayments, making a cumulative of One Billion, Four Hundred and Fifty Four Naira only (N1,039,156,454.00) within the weeks under review.
According to him, the detained and seized items include 30 Exotic vehicles including 7 Toyota Hilux (2018 models), 3 Toyota Prado Jeep(2017), 1 Range Rover, 1 Ford Edge (2015), 5,516 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 1, 078 cartons of frozen poultry products, 216 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 173 bales of used clothing, 683 pieces of used tyres, 8 sacks of Indian Hemp weighing 134kg among others.
He further said that , two containers with registration number MSKU130295/2 and MRKU877714/0 were seized for false declaration with a Duty paid of over N25m, adding that 24 suspects have been arrested in connection to these seizures.
The CAC, revealed that the Chairman of Presidential Committee on IDPS, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) approved the evacuation 25,318 50kg bags of rice, 3,366 jerrycans of 25 litres, 275 gallons if vegetable oil, 1,564 bales and 122 sacks of second hand clothing, 196 sacks and 938 pairs of used shoes to Bono State Government for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs) through the Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport (NASCT).
Compt. Garba however commended the Officers and Men of the unit for their efforts in suppressing smuggling, blocking all revenue leakages and enhancing trade facilitation towards sustaining best international standards.
“We have remained unflinching with our mandates and no amount of distraction will deter us from performing our statutory duties. We will continue to make this zone uncomfortable for smugglers to operate”, he warned.
He admonished Nigerians to report any smuggling activities in their areas to the Service and any information provided will be treated in confidence.
The FOU Boss warned economic saboteurs as well as fraudulent importers to invest their resources in legitimate trade and desist from smuggling activities as the Service will not relent in statutory functions especially in suppressing smuggling.
