- Customs in dilemma over decomposing items
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted some contraband valued at N8.93billion in the last three months of 2022.
The seizures were made in ports, various warehouses, illegal border routes and roads across the country.
Findings by New Telegraph revealed that some of the goods were decomposing at the various government warehouses due to lack of facilities to preserve perishable goods at the service’s FOU, Zone A, Zone B and Zone C.
It was learnt that Customs warehouse at FOU, Zone A was overflowing with seized items, while the training school premises of the service in Lagos have been
}26Sanwo-Oluflooded with seized goods because of space contraint.
Some of the seized items include vegetable oil, donkey skin, pangolin scales,
elephant tusks, rice, used clothes, Rolls Royce, Porsche Panamera, other exotic and usedvehicles, piecesof crocodile machetes, unregistered pharmaceutical products such as tramadol, codeine, chloroquine injections among others.
In March 2022, NCS’s Federal Operations Unit, Zone A said that because of its intensifying operational modalities to meet up with currentsmugglingtactics, the unit intercepted N1.62 billion contraband. The Acting Controller of theunit, DeputyComptroller Hussein Kehinde Ejibunu, said that 23 smugglers were arrested in connection with some contraband with duty paid value of N767.6million in one month in march, 2022.
At Owerri, the service’s Federal Operations Unit, Zone C intercepted eight exotic vehicles, unregistered pharmaceutical products as well as other contraband goodswithaDutyPaidValue of N529 million between January 1 and February 28, 2022.
Theexoticvehicles, which were said to lack relevant documents, include three Toyota Hilux of 2017, 2020 and 2021 models; one Land Cruiser Prado 2016 model; one Toyota Highlander 2014 and one Toyota Venza 2016 model, among others. At Tincan Island Port recently, no fewer than 206,000 machetes laden in eight containers smuggled from Ghana and other goods valued at N1.05billion were seized by the service between January and March, 2022.
According to the Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Adekunle Oloyede listed the seizures to include: 62,500 pieces of new lady’s shoes, 1,670,400 pieces of Chloroquine injections (Smg/Sml) and 1,814,400 pieces Novalgen injection (500mg/Sml), 1.5 kilogrammes of Colorado (indian hemp) concealed in two units of Ridgeline trucks and two units of Toyota corolla vehicles, 640 bales of used clothes and 236,500 pieces of used shoes, 48,850 rolls of cigarettes 23,800 tins of sodium bromate and baking powder.
Also, the Kano/Jigawa Command of the service seized N498.6 million. Its Area Controller, Comptroller Muhammad Abubakar Umar said that the contraband were foreign rice, spaghetti, donkey skins, secondhandclothesandothergoods.
Between January and March, the Onne Port Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ifeoma Onuigbo Ojekwu, said that N59million contraband were intercepted by the service.
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