Lagos – The Federal Operations Unit (F.O.U.) of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Zone `A’ Ikeja, Lagos, has impounded smuggled rice and poultry products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N26.41 million.
The Public Relations Officer of the unit, Mr Uche Ejesieme, said in a statement on Wednesday, that this was disclosed by the Controller of the unit, Comptroller Umar Dahiru.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seizures consisted of : 1,499 bags of rice and 3,071 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products.
The controller said in the statement that the enforcement of the recent ban on rice importation through the land borders had started yielding expected results.
The controller said that the F.O.U. Surveillance Team led by Deputy Superintendent of Customs Ohagwu Jude, comprising other officers and men, invaded the volatile terrain of Iteku waterside.
He said that the invasion was based on an intelligence report that smugglers were using the axis to illegally bring in rice into the country.
Dahiru said that the smugglers obviously took advantage of the inaccessibility of the terrain to attempt their nefarious activities.
He said that the team made effective use of information at its disposal, coupled with strategic planning, which eventually led to the successes recorded.
“The team had to devise a means of accessing the terrain, disguised, using flying boat, through the Agbara waterways, while a back-up team came in through Lusada in Ogun State.
“This move was deliberately undertaken to ensure that the smugglers did not pre-empt the motive of my operatives,’’ NAN quotes the controller as saying.
He said that the team received tremendous assistance and back-up from the Military, adding that this was a clear testimony of the synergy and collaboration existing between the Customs and other agencies of government.
Dahiru said that as soon as the team succeeded in cordoning off the area, all manner of hoodlums, miscreants, street urchins, launched a pre-meditated attack on the team.
“To underscore their level of desperation, these smugglers mobilised under-aged children and elderly men and women, using them to obstruct the movement of the trucks from the creeks to the Government Warehouse at Ikeja.
“In fact, they went to the extent of planting nails along the only access road, which was why the team had punctured tyres on two occasions.
“Apart from other dangerous weapons and charms thrown on the officers, ostensibly to frustrate their efforts,’’ the controller said.
He said that he had started putting modalities in place aimed at re-jigging the capacity and competence of officers of the unit in dealing with the issue of smuggling.
Dahiru praised the operational resilience and deep commitment of the team in going the extra mile to effect the seizures.
The controller said that the unit was pre-occupied with loading and evacuation of rice and vegetable oil to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Borno in line with a recent Presidential directive.
In the area of logistics, he expressed appreciation for the support of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ali and the
NCS management in providing necessary working tools for the prosecution of war against smuggling.
Dahiru said that the F.O.U’s Surveillance Team, Seme Axis, had, while acting on a tip off, monitored a tipper garage where tippers load sand to Sango-Ota.
“The team had privileged information that the tipper in question was laden with smuggled rice with a tarpaulin used to cover it, before sand was heaped on it, to distract our operatives.
“The tipper was intercepted, taken to the office and after thorough examination, was found to be carrying 168 bags of smuggled rice.
“This further underscored the desperation of these smugglers. Because from all indications, the routes have become very hot for them, hence their resort to unconventional means such as this, he said.
The controller also said that the Monitoring Team ‘B’ Seme Axis, led by a Superintendent of Customs, Kaila Shuaibu and other officers, intercepted a 40ft container body truck suspected to be carrying frozen poultry products.
He said that when the truck was brought down to the unit and examined, 3,000 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products were neatly concealed with 500 cartons of frozen fish.
The controller promised to explore many ways of dealing with smuggling, saying “it is a cankerworm that is capable of strangulating the economy of any nation’’.
The controller said that another patrol team on April 2016 intercepted a locally-fabricated Nissan Quest Mini-bus suspected to be designed for smuggling purposes along Oja-Odan-Ilaro Road.
According to him, the vehicle on interception, appeared to be empty but after careful examination, was discovered to have been used to conceal rice using the various compartments of the vehicle.
“What made this particular interception spectacular was the mode of concealment, because ordinarily one would have assumed that the vehicle was empty, if not for intelligence,’’ Dahiru said.
The Controller said that in all of these operations, his operatives met stiff opposition by the smugglers but vowed not to relent. (NAN)