Billy Graham Abel, Yola
The Nigerian Custom Service, Adamawa, and Taraba Area command, has nabbed twenty suspected smugglers transporting various banned products valued at about N98.3 million into Nigeria. The Comptroller of the command, Karmaludeen Olumoh, made this known at a press briefing yesterday in Yola ,while reviewing the command’s performance in 2019.
Mr Olumoh said that the command made 74 seizures and arrested twenty suspects within the year under review, in its clampdown on smuggling activities. He said, “The seizures include foreign rice, pangolin scales smuggled into the country and 33,400 litres of petroleum products that was to be smuggled out. The Duty Paid Value (DPV) for the items stands at N98.3 million.
“The command ended the year on a cheerful note by surpassing its revenue target. The command though an enforcement area, generated total revenue of N161.9 million realising an increase of N13.2 million over the given target of N148.6 million .
The Comptroller said, the successes was due to Customs sensitisation effort with stakeholders on import and export procedures, effective border community relations, bringing into the tax net, items and commodities that had hitherto been avoiding payment of duty. In addition, he said outstanding dedication and commitment of the officers and men of the command contributed to the success.