Steve Agbota
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that the joint border drill, codenamed ‘Exercise SWIFT Response’ has arrested 622 suspected smugglers and irregular immigrants in one year.
The NCS Comptroller General, Col Hameed Ali, who spoke through the National Public Relations Officer of Customs, Deputy Comptroller Joseph Attah, in a press release gave a breakdown of the successes recorded in the last one year of the exercise.
According to him, cargoes worth over N11 billion was seized, and that appreciable results have been recorded, particularly in the areas of security, economy, agriculture and inter-agency collaboration.
He added that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which is coordinating the exercise, has continued to record large numbers of seizures and arrests from the four sectors of the Northwest, North-Central, Southwest, and South-South geopolitical zones.
Giving the breakdown of the seizure, he said: “The CG said that as at 31st August 2020, 1,243, irregular immigrants and 622 suspected smugglers have been arrested, while seizures include 134,042 bags of parboiled foreign rice; 9,600 bags of NPK fertilizer; 1,791 vehicles; 3,565,461.9 litres of PMS; 5,007 drums filled with PMS; 68,436.3 jerry cans of PMS; 130 engine boats; 847 motorcycles; 17,212.6 jerry cans of vegetable oil; 813 packs of Tramadol; 274 bags of cannabis; among other items. The estimated monetary value of the seizures is N11,030,062,952.50.
“The present administration, through ONSA took a definitive step to put Nigeria on the path to food sufficiency, stem the flow of illicit arms into the country and improve national security through the Exercise.The joint border security exercise, has no doubt , saved the country huge resources and enhanced national security. For instance, the smuggling of drugs and proliferation of small arms and light weapons, which are drivers to terrorism and other forms of criminalities in the country.