Zika Bobby

Seme Command of Nigeria Customs Service has made 235 seizures with duty paid value of N91,162,942  within five weeks.

Acting Customs Area Controller of the Command Dalha Cheidi Wada who briefed newsmen yesterday on the seizures warned that the area would be a no-go-area for smugglers and other perpetrators of illegalities.

“Officers and men of Seme Command are not unaware of these desperate groups of unpatriotic citizens. Therefore, we have resolved never to lose guard in watching them day and night leading to arrest and seizures of 235 contraband with total duty paid value of N91,162,942.

“Our officers are always at alert to detect and make seizures of smuggled items despite their antics. In one incident, a smugglers posed as traditional chief to enjoy royal respect and free passage. Upon being asked to alight and open his booth, he knew the game was up, quickly alighted and fled into the bush.

“We have seized the vehicle and smuggled items contained in it. There is also daily smuggling of petroleum products and we have been seizing them along the various bush paths. We are ensuring that no one smuggled a jerrycan of PMS. As we speak, more seizures of petrol are coming in, to confirm what I said earlier.” Other seizures include 1113 bags of 50kg rice; 24,710 litres of premium motor spirit; 188 cartons of frozen poultry products; 105 textile materials; 22 vehicles; 84 sacks of used clothing, ladies handbags and shoes.

Related News

The Controller said a total of seven suspects were arrested in connection with various seizures made, while two were handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) , three were granted bail .

The command also impounded two buses belonging to popular transport company for illicit drug smuggling  Wada said the buses were discovered to have carried commercial quantity of amphetamine syrup.

Aside breaching policy on partial border closure, which prohibits imports and exports in and out of Nigeria, Wada said the drugs were without National Agency for Food Drugs Administration  and Control (NAFDAC) registration number.

Wada said the buses had 13 and 29 cartons with a cumulative value of about N6,000,000 in addition to 422,500mg of tramadol.

He said such volume of prohibited drugs, if allowed to come into the country could cause harm to the people and capable of destroying lives of many youths due to reported widespread abuse. Wada explained that Investigations are on to ascertain the culpability of the driver and passengers in the smuggling of the illicit drugs.