…Intercepts 4,201 Bags Of Rice, 1,105Kgs Of Imported Vegetable Oil, Others In February
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Ikeja, intercepted various contraband with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.1billion.
Controller of FOU, Mohammed Uba,who made this known today during a parley with journalists listed the identified the seized items to include 18 vehicles, 4,201 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 2,619 cartons of frozen poultry products, 1,105 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 2,637 pieces of used tyres, 1,333 bales of used clothing, 2,001 kg of Pangolin, 343kg of Elephant Tusks among others.
Uba listed the seized vehicles to include: one Rolls Royce, one Chrysler, one Audi Q7, one Land Rover HSE, one Toyota Venza, one Ford Taurus, one Honda Cross tour, four Mercedes Benz, three Kia Rio, one Escalade, among others type of vehicles ranging from 2008 to 2015 model.
The FOU boss stated that some of the vehicles were intercepted on Ijebu Ode Expressway, while others were evacuated from a car mart located in Lekki
He also stated that within the period under review, the unit has also recovered N67, 945,158.00 from demand notices raised on goods intercepted while attempting to beat the system through transfer of value and under declaration, making a cumulative of One Billion, One Hundred and Three Million, One Hundred and Seventy Seven Thousand, Two Hundred and Four Naira only, (N1,103,177,204).
He stated that within the month under review, the Warehouse Operations Team led by Assistant Comptroller Mutalib Sule while acting on intelligence raided an apartment at No. 38, Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos and evacuated the following:55 sacks of Pangolin Shells weighing 2001kg valued at N408,319,317.6, 218 pieces of Elephant Tusk weighing 343Kg valued At N85,156,649.96 .
“You will recall that the responsibilities of the Nigeria Customs Service have undoubtedly increased tremendously overtime because of the implementation of different International protocols and conventions. The Convention of International Trade in Endangered species (CITES 1973) entails that Customs Administration globally protects wild life by intercepting illegal trade on such animals. It further prevents the killings of endangered species since the tusks are only available after the killing of the elephant and pangolin. In the spirit of inter-agency collaboration, the seized pangolin and tusks have been be handed over to Nigeria Environment Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) for further investigation in collaboration towards protecting our natural habitat, which you all witnessed earlier, he said.
He continued, “For the avoidance of doubt, our action is in-line with the provisions of Sections 147 of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (power to search premises), Section 158 of CEMA, Cap 45 Laws of Federation of Nigeria (power to patrol freely). Also, a 1/20ft container no. CAIU0961053 was seized for false declaration, which is tantamount to seizure. Seventeen (17) suspects have been arrested in connection with these 90 seizures including Mr. KO Sin Ying, a Chinese national.”
