By Eromosele Abiodun
The
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone 'A'
Ikeja, has stated that it intercepted various contraband with duty paid
value (DPV) of N1.29 billion and N1.28 billion. The items, according to
the agency were from duty payments and demand notices respectively on
general goods that tried to beat the system from seaports, airport and
border stations through wrong classification, transfer of value, and
short-change in duty payment that are meant for the federal government.
According to the NCS, the cumulative amount raked between January and June 2017 stood at N2.58 billion.
In the months under
review, the agency revealed that 95 suspects were arrested in
connection to the seizures and 475 different seizures were recorded
comprising foreign parboiled rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable
oil, smuggled vehicles, Indian hemp, arms, fake
pharmaceutical/medicaments and various general merchandise.
The Controller,
Federal Operations Unit Zone 'A', Comptroller Mohammed Uba Garba said
the successes were recorded following intensified anti-smuggling
operations in the zone.
He thanked the
Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) and the
entire management team of the Nigeria Customs Service for their efforts
in recognising hard work and putting square begs in square holes.
"Without the
management motivation and necessary logistic support, we won't have
achieved this feat within this period, "he said.
Similarly, Uba
commended the commitment and diligence of the officers and men of the
FOU 'A' for thwarting the antics of some dare devil smugglers who used
different methods for concealment.
He charged all his
officers to be professional and diligent in performing their statutory
responsibilities; most especially in the area of anti-smuggling
operations by making sure all revenue linkages are blocked.
Uba added that smuggling is a global phenomenon, which cannot be curbed entirely but can only be brought to its barest minimum.
No comments:
Post a Comment