Customs generate N4.8 billion for January in Oyo/Osun area command

The Comptroller, Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adamu R. Abdulkadir, has disclosed that a sum of N4,895,772,769.90 billion has been generated as revenue in January 2021, through expertise and observation by its excise officers.

Abdulkadir stated this, on Thursday, during a press briefing on the activities of the area command in anti-smuggling and revenue generation, held at the command headquarters in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The Comptroller also said that a series of seizures, totalling N383,420,494 million on Duty Paid Value (DPV), were made between November 19, 2020, and January 31 this year.

He added that two suspects were arrested in connection with smuggling, but were granted bail pending the determination of their cases.

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Listed under the anti-smuggling activities of its operatives are the seizures of 3,052 bags of foreign parboiled rice with duty paid value of N124,477,488 million, 60 bales of used clothing valued at N15,030,143 million and 246 pieces of used tyres valued at N2,698,866 million.

Others are cannabis Sativa with duty paid value of N4,526,063 million, eight units of Toyota Camry (2020 model) valued at N211,541,320 million, a used Toyota Highlander (2019 model) valued at N33,710,363 million, 10 units of motorcycles, used as means of conveying smuggled bags of rice, valued at N1,219,000 million and eight kegs of 25-litre vegetable oil valued at N217,251.

The Comptroller also remarked that the Area Command, under his management, had commenced an operation, code-named ‘Operation Fish Out’ through the invocation of Sections 147 and 151 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap C45 LFN 2004, which gives operatives power to search premises for goods not customed and to reward informants with genuine intelligence.

He said: “We shall sharpen our intelligence and enforcement capabilities to fight smuggling, and enforce compliance with reference to extant laws guiding our procedures and rules of engagement.

“We shall deploy all our strength and available logistics to ensure success in the battle against those who like to dare the capability of officers of the area command. Oyo and Osun States will be made unbearable for economic saboteurs.”

Abdulkadir warned people perceived to be on the side of the smugglers by revealing Customs officers’ movement and action to them, saying that they would be tracked, apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

Commending the area command operatives who, according to him, had been unrelenting and uncompromising in the face of challenges, the Comptroller also acknowledged the contributions of stakeholders, traditional and community leaders in providing enabling environment for officers to function properly.