Customs impounds goods valued at N572m

The Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service impounded contraband with a Duty Paid Value of N572.1 million between January 1 and April 9, 2016.
The Public Relations Officer of the unit, Uche Ejesieme, said in a statement in Lagos that the Controller of the unit, Comptroller Umar Dahiru, made the disclosure while on an inspection tour of the warehouse.
“The seized items include: frozen poultry products, foreign parboiled rice, vehicles, vegetable oil, trucks of unprocessed teak woods and other general merchandise,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Dahiru as saying.
The controller gave the breakdown as: 4,911 bags of rice; 15,048 cartons of imported frozen products; 1,884 kegs of vegetable oil; 17 trucks of unprocessed teak woods; and an unspecified number of general merchandise.
Dahiru said the latest onslaught came against the backdrop of the recent directive on the ban on rice importation through the land borders.
The controller said three brand new Toyota Prado jeeps were also intercepted during the period.
Dahiru said importation of rice was only restricted for now to the seaports and warned rice importers to adhere strictly to the latest policy or be ready to face the full wrath of the law.
He said: “In the area of logistic support, I would like to appreciate the Comptroller-General of Customs, retired Colonel Hameed Ali, and the management for providing necessary equipment, which had enabled the service to deal with smuggling.”
On trade facilitation, the controller said the nation was a signatory to the ECOWAS treaty on trade liberalisation and could not afford to go contrary to the letter and spirit of the treaty.
“The service is a compliant organisation and we are determined to deliver services in line with World Customs Organisation standards because we are key elements of the WCO,” Dahiru said.
He said legitimate and compliant importers would always receive the support of the unit in line with the policy of trade facilitation and urged those with dubious intention to “turn a new leaf”.
Dahiru mentioned some of challenges faced by the unit, particularly the ignorance of some rural dwellers who did not see anything wrong in smuggling.
The controller promised that the concept of Customs Community Relations would be revived for the education and sensitisation of the populace, “particularly those dwelling in communities where smugglers operate”.
NAN.