The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a revenue and seizure of contraband goods worth ₦1.055 billion in the month of December 2018.
Controller of the command, Comptroller Muhammed Uba, who announced this in a chat with newsmen in Seme, said the command generated the sum of N623 billion, representing about 92 per cent of the command’s target allocated.
Uba, said among the seized items recorded within the period included 22 fairly used vehicles and six means of conveyance, 6,753 bags of 50kg foreign rice which is equivalent to over 11 trailer truck valued at ₦157 million, 25 jerry cans of vegetable oil worth ₦573, 750 and 50kg bags of sugar with a Duty Paid Value ( DPV) ₦567, 000.
Others were: 25 litres of PMS with DPV of ₦106,500, 21 cartons of tinned tomatoes worth ₦127,575, two sacks of used shoes worth ₦67,500 and 91 parcels of hard drugs/narcotics which he said have been handed over to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to him, “Notable amongst the seized vehicles are Toyota Coaster Van (2014 model), Toyota Landcruiser Prado (2011), Mercedes Benz GLK 350 (2010), Toyota Sienna (2013), Toyota 4Runner (2014) and a host of others. The combined duty paid value (DPV) for the vehicles stands at ₦177,314,091. The gand total for both seizures and revenue is ₦1.055 billion.”
Uba said seven suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures, adding that “one of the suspects Difo Kenneth Cornelius, who was transferred to the NDLEA Seme Command in August 2018, has been prosecuted successfully and was imprisoned for a term of two years on 30th November 2018 for unlawfull possession of 7kg of cannabis.”
He said with the inauguration and subsequent movement of the command to the Joint Border Post of Seme-Krake, the operations of the command will be further enhanced through cooperation, collaboration and regional integration by facilitating the free movement of persons and services, reduction of trade and logistic costs, increasing inter- regional trade, increase of government revenue by eliminating trade barriers, reduction of delays, operating cost and availability of baseline data for impact assessment.
He assured stakeholders that the command would not only surpass this year’s revenue target but would further strengthen its anti-smuggling operations against trans-border crimes through intelligence driven operations and continuous partnerships with other relevant agencies for effective border management to stem the unlawful activities of “daredevil criminals”
“We, however, assure members of both local and business communities that the command will increase dialogue, enlightenment and robust stakeholder engagements for seamless operations through the modern Joint Border Post.