The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Tuesday intercepted over 1,398 rolls of plain military uniforms and camouflage at the Lagos port.
The items were intercepted by the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) Command of the NCS.
While briefing newsmen, the Area Comptroller of the Kirikiri Command of the NCS, Mrs. Lami Wushishi said the items were illegally shipped into the country on 14th of July, 2017 from China.
Two suspects, she said, were arrested in connection with the prohibited items.
The items, she said, were concealed in a 40ft container number ECMU 9239436 and allegedly imported by Musbarth Integrated Logistics Ltd of 163, Sky Memorial Complex, Zoo Road, Kano.
Wushishi, who displayed the intercepted items to reporters at the Port Express terminal, said the plain military uniforms which were mixed up with other items were discovered during routine examinations and checks.
She said: “It is the practice that when we have military wares, they are normally imported by military officers and they will write a letter to our headquarters to that effect, and when the goods come, they are always on ground to receive them without paying duty.”
“But on this particular case, the items were declared as 200 packages of Thread Take-up Can and 150 packages of polyester material.”
“It was during the examination that we discovered that the items inside the container were 732 rolls of plain Army uniform, 666 rolls of plain military camouflage, 129 roles of polyester and five bags of polyester.”
“When you look at the list, one tends to suspect foul play, more so, the person that brought the prohibited items only used the 129 rolls of polyester as decoy to deceive our men, hence the need to do a thorough check on the consignment.”
Considering the security challenge in the country, the Customs chief said the plain military uniform and the camouflage could be used to wreak havoc in any part of the country. She noted that terrorists and other criminals now dress like solders.
“Although, we invited you here to witness the handing over of the seized items and the two suspects to the Department of the State Security (DSS), but we always tell them that they should not come to our ports because we have our officers and men on ground to deal with the unusual situation. We have issued series of warning that any illegal trader should not come here because we have the entire wherewithal and intelligence readily available to discover this type of things.”
“You can see that these items were illegally imported. It is against Federal Government’s laws for individuals to import this kind of stuff. We have done our own investigation and we are now handing over these items and the suspects to the DSS to continue investigation and get to the root of the matter. The suspects are with us. We are going to hand them over together with the items to DSS.”
Wushishi said the Comptroller-General, Col Hameed Ali (Rtd), has warned them to be up and doing and extra vigilant at the ports because of the activities of the criminals across the country.
The items and the suspect were handed to DSS operatives in the presence of newsmen at the handing over event.
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