Nigeria Customs Arrested 207 Smugglers in 2017
By Chinyere Ikem, LAGOS/
Anti smuggling operations of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, have continued to yield desire results as the agency arrested a total number of 207 suspected smugglers in the last 22 months.
Mr. Joseph Attah, the spokesperson of Nigeria Custom Service made this known to pressmen in Lagos during a bref on the activities of the customs in 2017. Attah, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs, said that the operations in 2017 raked in a total of 4, 492 assorted seizures with duty paid value of N12, 777, 321, 405, 75.which includes 2,671 pump Action Riffles, dangerous/illicit, vehicle and rice.
He further gave the breakdown of the activities of the agency through this period by donating 421 trailers of rice totaling 252,666 bags valued at N3.78 billion to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). that the donations were in line with a Presidential directive on the disposal of perishable seizures after due diligence of court condemnation. He said that the donations were made in four states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Edo.
Attah said that the donations were carried out by the National Logistics Committee consisting of members from NCS, the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Commission. Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Food and Drug Administration and Control, Nigerian Television Authority, News Agency of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Journalists and the Red Cross.
According to him, other items donated by the Service are 82,140 jerry cans of 25-litre vegetable oil valued at N985.6 million, soap worth N52.6 million in 19,491 cartons and including clothes.
Other goods donated were insecticides, foot wears, bags and 1 x40ft container of frozen tilapia fish.
Attah said that Customs anti-smuggling efforts had kept the service warehouses filled with seizures in spite of the various donations made by the service to IDPs. “In spite of the tons of rice and other relief items already transferred to the IDPs, some NCS warehouses are still filled with rice.“This only shows that the sustained onslaught against unrepentant rice smugglers continues to yield positive results.“The ones in the warehouses now are either awaiting court condemnation or forfeiture to the Federal Government or have already been allocated to governments of the affected states, who paid the Army Corps of Transport and Logistics for transportation of the goods to the IDPs. “Eventually, the seized rice and other perishable items presently in the warehouses will be given to fellow Nigerians affected by the unfortunate insurgency in the North East, he said.
On the disposal of other seized items, he said the Service relied on its extant laws of Section 167(2) of Customs and Excise Management Act Cap C45 LFN 2004 to commence an electronic auction regime aimed at eliminating human contacts and entrenching transparency.
According to Attah, the portal is opened to all interested persons to bid between 12 noon on Monday to 12 noon on Wednesday of every week. “A total of 5,454 persons registered, while 4,865 bided and 646 bidders emerged winners. “So far, 646 vehicles were seized with N272.1 million generated as revenue for the Federal Government,” he said.
The spokesman said that the delay in disposing some seized goods in most government warehouses was associated with court processes after documentations and filing the court process for condemnation and forfeiture in line with the law
About Author
