The Kebbi command of the Nigeria Customs Service has recorded fourteen seizures of various items in the past two weeks.
Disclosing this during his maiden press briefing, the Area Controller of the command, Compt. Ben Oramalugo PhD, stated that following his directive to operatives to intensify vigilance across vast bushes and all the waterways within Kebbi State immediately he took over, their undaunted effort has started yielding positive result in anti smuggling activities.
This he said led to the seizure of 14 assorted items which include
8,975 litres of PMS loaded in 25-litre kegs,
189 bags of foreign parboiled rice,
71 bags of imported sugar,
42 bales of second hand clothing and 36 sacks of used shoes.
Others, according to Compt. Oramalugo are 74 cartons of bleaching cream,
110 Solar Batteries,
105 Cartons of medicine,
7 used vehicles as means conveyance
and 1 tanker truck under detention which is suspected to have been smuggled into the country in contravention of Federal government extant policy, prohibiting importation of vehicles through land borders.
The controller gave the Duty Paid Value of the said items to be Ninety one million, five hundred and eighteen thousand, nine hundred and twenty four naira (N91, 518, 928).
He informed that the seized PMS would be auctioned immediately after the briefing.
“It is disheartening that in spite of the humongous amount paid by government to make PMS available to citizens at reasonable price, some unscrupulous citizens choose to divert the product to our neighbouring countries for their selfish financial benefits,” he lamented.
Compt. Oramalugo stated that the Command is equipped with all logistics provided by the management of the Service under the able leadership of Col. Hamid Ibraheem Ali (Rtd) to carry out duty as enshrined in Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN, 2004, warning smugglers to desist from their nefarious activities.
“Specifically, section 167 gives us the power to seize goods improperly imported in contravention of extant laws.
“We engage in anti smuggling activities to protect our local industries and strengthen the nation’s border security. This is to prevent the influx of goods harmful to our health and the economy. “Therefore as part of our mandate we will create an avenue where only permissible goods from other neighbouring countries and our indigenous goods will be traded without hindrance to achieve and even surpass the Command’s set target for the year 2023. And with the required psychology and physical strength, it is realisable,” he hinted.
The controller expressed his profound gratitude to sister agencies, other units in the Service for their support and mutual collaboration through intelligence sharing in the onerous task of maintaining national security.
Compt. Oramalugo equally appreciated stakeholders and the general public for their relentless support in carrying out our duties.
