NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE IMPOUNDS GOODS WORTH OVER THREE HUNDRED MILLION NAIRA IN OWERRI

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘C’ Owerri has impounded goods with the duty paid value of over three hundred and eighty million naira within the last one month.

The New Comptroller in charge of the Zone, Mr. Kayode Olusemire stated this while displaying the seized items to newsmen in the Benin Command of the zone.

He said the goods which were mainly exotic vehicles with bullet proof and trucks containing over one thousand bags of foreign rice were smuggled into the country by those he described as economic saboteurs.

Mr. Olusemire explained that his men who were on patrol along Benin Onitsha Express Way, intercepted the bags of foreign rice which were concealed under bunches of banana and other perishable items.

The duty paid Value for all this suffering runs about three hundred and eighty five million, one hundred and twenty two naira. This is two hundred bags of rice concealed with banana, banana is not contraband but the smugglers know what they want to do and we too are up to the task. Someone would go to US to buy this car and when it gets to Nigeria they will not be ready to pay duty on it. This is to sound a note of warning to them as a paradigm shift, here it will be difficult for anybody to pass through, because we have our grab nets and tentacles spread everywhere.

Mr. Olusemire reminded Nigerians that there were laws covering the importation of bullet proof vehicles and warned that the Service would continue to clamp down on smugglers.

The New Comptroller appealed to importers to comply with the laws as surveillance had increased in the zone which comprised South East and South South States.

CHINAZO ILECHUKWU