The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it intercepted a total of four hundred and ninety-four (494) prohibited/offending goods were effected by the Unit between the months of January and June 2016.
Similarly, the Unit also apprehended one hundred and twenty six (126) suspects in connection with the seizures made during the same period.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Uche Ejesieme who disclosed this in a press release he issued in Lagos last week stated put the valued of the seized goods at seven hundred and two million, sixty thousand, six hundred and fifty Naira (N702,060,650.00) with a payable duty of one hundred and eighty-six million, two hundred and fifty-two thousand, five hundred and forty Naira (N186,252,540.00) with a total Duty Paid Value of eight hundred and eighty-eight million, three hundred and thirteen thousand, one hundred and ninety Naira (N888,313,190.00).
Giving the comparative analysis of the seizure made, Ejesieme stated that while the Unit during the corresponding period in 2015, recorded one thousand and thirty (1,030) different seizures with a Duty Paid Value of seven hundred and fifty eight million, two hundred and seventy one thousand, nine hundred and sixty nine naira (N758, 271,969.00), which appeared higher, the quality of seizures between January and June, 2016 obviously accounted for the improved Duty Paid Value.
He gave the breakdown of the seizure to include; twenty-two thousand, seven hundred and sixty three (22,763) bags of 50kg parboiled rice valued at one hundred and thirteen million, nine hundred and forty thousand Naira (N113,940,000.00) with a payable duty of thirty-four million, one hundred and eighty-two thousand Naira (N34,182,000.00) and a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of one hundred and forty-eight million, one hundred and twenty -two thousand Naira (N148,122,000.00).Twenty nine thousand, six hundred and eighty-four (29,684) cartons of poultry products valued at one hundred and thirty-three mllion, five hundred and seventy-eight thousand Naira (N133, 578,000.00) with a payable duty of twenty six million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand, six hundred Naira (N26, 715,600.00) and a DPV of one hundred and sixty million, two hundred and ninety-three thousand, six hundred Naira (N160, 293,600.00). A total of fifty (50) vehicles was intercepted comprising thirty-eight (38) units of assorted vehicles and twelve (12) cut buses valued at sixty-eight million Naira (N68,000,000.00), with a payable duty of twenty-three million, eight hundred thousand Naira (N23,800,000.00) and a DPV of ninety-one million, eight hundred thousand Naira (N91,800,000.00).
Others are; three thousand, one hundred and seventy-four (3,174) Jerricans, two hundred and eighty-six (286) cartons, one hundred and twenty (120) pieces of 10 litres and one thousand, two hundred and fifty (1,250) empty Jerricans of Vegetable oil were also intercepted, valued at twenty-one million, one hundred and ninety-six thousand Naira (N21,196,000.00) with a payable duty of seven million, three hundred and fifty-nine Thousand, nine hundred and fifty Naira (N7,359,950.00) with a DPV of twenty-eight million, five hundred and fifty-five thousand, nine hundred and fifty Naira (N28,555,950.00). Assorted general merchandise including new and used textile materials, new and used shoes, vegetable oil, insecticide, wine, various types of spaghetti and noodles, soaps and detergents valued at three hundred and sixty-five million, three hundred and forty -six thousand, six hundred and fifty Naira (N365,346,650.00) with a payable duty of ninety-four million, one hundred and ninety-four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine Naira (N94,194,990.00) with a DPV of four hundred and fifty-nine million, five hundred and forty-one thousand, six hundred and forty-nine Naira (N459,541,640.00).
He quoted the Controller of the unit, Comptroller Dahiru Umar as saying that over three hundred and twelve million, eight hundred and seventy thousand, two hundred and ninety-five Naira (N312,870,295.00), was recovered through the various interventions during the same period adding that the Controller noted that some of the seized items contravened sections 46 & 47 of the Customs and Excise Management Act CAP C45 LFN 2004; which are on “Forfeiture of goods improperly imported” as well as “Penalty for improper importation of goods etc”.
The Controller further stated that, “despite the harsh economic realities, the Unit was still able to demonstrate capacity in actualizing the set objectives of the Service, particularly in enforcing the fiscal policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria”.
“The successes recorded by the Unit did not just happen, but was as a result of total commitment of officers/men of the Unit. These successes did not come without challenges and some of these challenges range from the hostility and volatility of some areas where we operate, nefarious activities of some fake informants as well as the role of misguided and unpatriotic elements who strongly believe that smuggling is their legitimate right. However, the Unit remains on top of its statutory functions and is making serious inroads/waves in ensuring seamless operations even in very volatile terrains.
“The Unit maintains very cordial relationship with the critical stakeholders particularly the security Agencies, the Media and the various publics. We are gratified by the level of cooperation which our latest approach engendered towards achieving set goals”, the release stated.
Send your news, press releases/articles to info@primetimereporters.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @reportersinfo and on Facebook at facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
