The Federal Operations Unit (FoU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it has seized 117 units of vehicles and general goods for various offences worth a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N 17.49 billion.
The Acting Controller, of the Zone, D/C Usman Yahaya, also expressed the Unit’s readiness to protect Federal Government’s revenue from any form of infractions.
Yahaya, who stated this in a press statement through the FoU’s Public Relations Officer, Theophilus Duniya, said the Unit of the Service was created to complement the Area Commands to ensure that revenue accruable to the Federal Government is not lost to desperate and unpatriotic smugglers through sharp practices.
Consequent upon this, Yahaya and his team are strongly determined to block all revenue leakages, smuggling of illicit and prohibited goods in the interest of the nation’s socio-economic security across the Zone (South-West).
However, he added that from January to September 2020, the Unit increased the Federal government’s revenue with the sum of N 1.611 billion as revenue from demand notices (DN) raised on cargoes for either being under declared, wrongly classified or falsely declared.
He said 117 units of vehicles and general goods were seized for various offences worth a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N 17,490,768,633, adding that the Unit had in the past intercepted containers laden with pump action rifles, tramadol drugs and smuggled cannabis among other dangerous substances and goods that would have succeeded in getting into wrong hands.
“We remain resolute at enforcing the Federal Government’s ban on the importation of all prohibited goods; especially now that the borders are closed.
Importers are hereby advised to make proper declarations and ensure compliance with the extant clearance procedure. However, smugglers are also warned to desist from sabotaging the nation’s economy through their activities.
“We shall remain firm and resolute in discharging our duties in accordance with the extant laws without fears or intimidation. Support and facilitate legitimate compliant traders to succeed in their businesses. While we continue to thank our esteemed stakeholders and patriotic citizens for their unflinching support, we solicit for useful and timely information to serve our nation better,” he added.