Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) yesterday said it arrested146 illegal migrants and seized 18,759 bags of foreign rice along Nigeria’s borders due to partial border closure by the Federal Government. A pistol and some cartridges were also were intercepted.
The Customs said some of the illegal migrants were coming into the country to create havoc by engaging in criminal activities such as armed banditry and kidnapping, among others.
The national public relations officer of the NCS, Joseph Attah, disclosed this during a sensitization programme organised for members Rice Farmers Association and other stakeholders in Kaduna State.
Attah added that the partial border closure was aimed at ensuring that dangerous items and illegal migrants don’t find their way into the country through the borders.
He said the closure was not meant to create hardship for Nigerians, but to protect their lives and businesses, adding that one of the illegal migrants was caught with a pistol trying to cross over into the country.
“We arrested 146 illegal migrants within a period of one month plus and imagine if 46 out of the 146 arrested were coming into the country with the mindset to create havoc to kidnap, to do robbery, to snatch vehicles, could you imagine the positive effect this action has already brought to Nigeria.
“We also arrested an illegal migrant with a pistol. What is he coming into the country to do with a pistol if not to commit crime?
“We also seized 18,759 bags of rice, seized 131 MPK bags of fertilizer, which can be used to make explosives. We intercepted 50 cartridges; we also intercepted 4,765 jericans of vegetable oil and also stopped two tankers of petroleum about to be smuggled out of the country,” he said.
