The Adamawa/Taraba Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has impounded 15,449 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other contraband goods worth over N13 million naira, as it intensifies its battle against smuggling activities in the region.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Salisu Kazaure Abdullahi who made this known during a press briefing in Yola on Friday, said the Command has repositioned officers across all its territorial borders.
The seized items include: 19 cartons of foreign insecticide; 26x50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice; 15,449 litres of PMS packed in 17x200L drums, 475x25L and 6x35L jerry cans respectively.
Compt. Abdullahi explained that the feat was possible due to the resolute and untiring efforts of the Command’s operatives, which is geared towards ensuring that the core mandate of the service – revenue generation, trade facilitation and suppression of smuggling amongst others is achieved.
His words: “The result of these unwavering efforts of the enforcement units of the service had really translated into a huge success of the numerous seizures of items recorded hitherto.
“This is invariably predicated on the intelligence sharing, synergy and gallantry efforts of our operatives.
“In the Month under review, the Command had recorded (19) nineteen seizures of assorted items with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of Thirteen Million,Seven Hundred and Forty Nine Thousand, One hundred and Ten naira and Thirty Five Kobo only (N13,749,110.35)”.
Speaking further, the CAC said that intelligence report has revealed that the smuggling of the product to the West African sub-region still persists, in defiance of the subsidy removal on PMS.
According to him, the seizure of the PMS contravenes section 246 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 and considering the facts that the territorial borders of the Command still remain officially closed.
He noted that illicit source and trade on crude oil and its by-products had inflicted remarkable economic losses on Nigerians and lawful stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
“This is owing to the facts that the Country’s PMS is of high quality and some of the products could be illegally sourced. It is worthy to note that, sometimes the smugglers and those who patronize them only take cognisance of the quality of the PMS and greatly undermine the comparative cost”, he said.
The comptroller disclosed that on the account of the inflammable nature of the PMS, most of it had been disposed off, in accordance with the extant laws and the accrued proceed remitted into the Federation Account, while the remaining will be auctioned.
The Command also destroyed seized raw donkey skin that was earlier apprehended by the enforcement units of the service on September 1, 23 at Sahuda, the Nigeria- Cameroon border.
Compt. Abdullahi said the destruction is in accordance with schedule number 15 of Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, with representatives of the Nigeria Agricultural and Quarantine Service, Adamawa State Command present.
He, however, disclosed that
none of the smugglers were arrested as they fled and abandoned the items.
“When overrun by our enforcement units, the smugglers always prefer to abandon their smuggled goods and flee in order to escape prosecution.
“I want to bring to the notice of the general public that the Command has vowed to clamp down on all smugglers, maintaining that the Nation cannot afford to allow saboteurs take over the Nation’s economy.
“On this note I implore all the patriotic Nigerians, stakeholders and all relevant security agencies at the Command’s frontiers to continue to collaborate with the Customs in the battle against this menace of smuggling as this fight is not a one man business”.
The CAC charged officers and Men of the Command to remain resolute and maintain the tempo in the fight against the menace of smuggling activities across the borderlines and ensure that smuggling operations become a difficult venture for those engaged in it and those intending to go into it.
He thanked the Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi Adewale and his Management team for providing the Command with additional operational vehicles.
According to him, the vehicles had strengthened the efforts of operatives in combating the smuggling activities more effectively in the command and had yielded great success in terms of the seizures recorded in the period under review.
He added that the Command will not rest on its oars until the menace of smuggling is significantly suppressed.
