The anti-smuggling activities of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘D’ of the Nigerian Customs, Bauchi have seized various contrabands whose cumulative Duty Paid Value stand at the sum of N468,341,430.
The operations were carried out from 1st September to 15th December 2022 as disclosed by the Customs Comptroller in charge of the zone, Musa Ibrahim Jalo during a press briefing held at the Zonal headquarters in Bauchi on Thursday.
According to him, the Unit is saddled with the responsibility of enforcing Customs laws, implementing Government Fiscal policies and suppression of smuggling within the Zone.
He stated that for the period under review, the unit made a total of 60 seizures prominent among which were Petroleum products.
Musa Ibrahim Jalo said that in an effort to stem the tide against the smuggling of petroleum products considering the present scarcity of the commodity in the nation, the Unit successfully intercepted 2209 jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit in 25 litres each.
Another 149 Drums of PMS, 250 litres each and 49 jerrycans of Automotive Gas Oil 25 litres each were seized from smugglers.
“In summary, the Unit intercepted 93,700 litres of petroleum products within the period under review.”
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He also disclosed that under the protection of Endangered Species and in line with the strategic role of Customs in enforcing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is also in line with Schedule 6 of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) 2022-2026, the Unit was able to intercept 4 sacks of Pangolin scales weighing 165kg.
Also, under the Protection of the Populace 2326 pieces of used tyres, 441 Bales of Secondhand clothing and 27 sacks of secondhand clothing were seized in line with schedule 4 of the CET which places the seized items on absolute prohibition on health and safety grounds.
Other seizures made were: 3487 bags of fertilizer which Controlled measures were placed by the Federal Government in the North East to avert the potential danger of its usage by insurgents for the production of explosives.
During the period under review, 675 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice; 252 Cartons of foreign Soap; 250 cartons of foreign spaghetti; 42 pieces of alloy rims; 5 Units of used imported vehicles and 17 vehicles used as means of conveyance were seized.
The Customs Comptroller said that “Let me clearly state that the seizures showcased here today, were possible as a result of robust information gathering and credible intelligence sharing by other Customs Units such as the CIU, Customs Police, SIS, CGC Strikeforce, vigilant and resilient Patrol Officers of FOU ‘D’, other security agencies and patriotic Nigerians,” he stated.
Musa Ibrahim Jalo added that “Our operative’s actions are in accordance with all extant laws as enshrined in the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LEN 2004 as amended, particularly section 139 (provisions as to detention, seizure and condemnation of goods) and 158 (power to patrol freely).”
“I want to use this medium to appeal to patriotic citizens on the need to provide credible information to the Service in order to curb the menace of these unscrupulous smugglers who are bent on crippling the economy of this Great Nation,” he stressed.
He then assured that the Officers and men of the Zone will continue to operate within the confines of the law to ensure that the illegal activities of smugglers were reduced to the barest minimum within the zone.
The Customs Comptroller also used the medium to call on those who have taken illegal smuggling as a means of livelihood to have a positive change of heart and look elsewhere for survival rather than engaging in economic sabotage.
