OUR REVIEWED STRATEGIES HAVE BEEN PAYING OFF - Ejibunu

By Okey IROEGBU

The Customs Area Controller of the Unit which made seizures which amounts to N1,241,777,700 in duty paid value reiterated on their resolve to bring smuggling to the barest minimum. In what might serve as a note of warning to the desperation of these economic saboteurs to increase their tempo during every yuletide period, the Customs boss DC Hussein Kehinde warned them to keep off his way.He did not minced words stating that their

reviewed strategies have been paying off as reflected in the seizures they made in the month of October 2023. He promised that these intelligence would be continually used by the Unit to achieve results.“We are ready to intercept them and frustrate their antics of concealment, illegal route passage, false

declaration, and under declaration. In addition, we are also determined to implement all the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, including the various penalties attached to offences while striving to ensure that perpetrators face the full wrath of the laws.“In our continuous quest to prevent revenue loss through various infractions such as; under-valuation, under-payments, and wrong classification, the sum of N115,456,534.94 was collected following the issuance of demand notices to defaulters,” he saidThese pronouncement were made at the headquarters of the Unit at Ikeja Lagos on Tuesday,

November 7, 2023 shortly after the weekly meeting of the unit, during a press briefing.“As I have always stated, the Federal Operations Unit Zone A is sustaining its resolve to protect the Nigeria’s economy by enforcing the anti-smuggling laws in an uncompromising manner. Just as intelligence reports gathered over the years indicated a higher degree of desperation by economic saboteurs to smuggle during the yuletide periods.“While noting this challenge, we have fully deployed the improved logistics supplied by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir A Adeniyi; provided support for our officers with strategic manpower placements to achieve our ongoing drive to suppress smuggling,” he said.During the inspection of these seizure, it could be observed that rice were at every available space in the over filled warehouses of the unit at Ikeja. This is already calling for a serious need for a spacious accommodation for proper storage of some of these perishable items.“Rice has been a recurring commodity in our list of seizures across various borders in the southwest zone. We were able to seize a total of 7,381 units of 50kg foreign parboiled rice from smugglers. This amounts to almost thirteen trailer loads of rice,” he said.Other notable items seized by the Unit which littered their premises are a total of seventeen vehicles seized from smugglers who wanted to circumvent the law by evading duty payment. He used this opportunity to also inform the public that the ban on vehicle importation through land borders is still in force.Other items seized are, 593 jerrycans (14,825 litres) of premium motor spirit, 657 pieces of used tyres, 167 (202 kg) parcels of Indian hemp, 39 bales of second hand-clothing, 100 packs of tomato ketchup, 4 units of used motorcycle, 600 cartons of GIV soap and 730 sacks of hide and skin hidden in a 1x40 container equivalent to 5,033 pieces.As usual the seizures did not just take effect without the apprehension of some of the culprits. The Customs Area Controller said that nine (9) suspected smugglers were arrested in connection to some of the seizures. Meanwhile the Unit has previously arraigned two suspects, Walu Oladeji and Lateef Odugbemi, for felony. The suspects were arraigned at the Federal High Court sitting at Ibadan on recently on a four-count charge; Obstruction to duty, shooting, and assault on an Officer on duty, amounting to Felony punishable under section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.DC Ejibunu finally appealed “to all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians to continue to support the Unit with credible information that will assist in battling economic sabotage. I also urge members of the press to always support us by using their position to discourage smuggling and any act that contravenes the customs law,” he concludes.