By Francis Ogwo
The Nigerian Joint Border Patrol (JBPT) formerly known as Operation Swift Response (OSR), has announced that it has seized items valued at N12.5 billion as of 5 January 2021.
This was made public by the Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Joseph Attah, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
The Customs PRO noted that the items that have been seized comprises of 159,506.7-(50kg) bags of parboiled foreign rice, 10,447 bags of NPK fertilizer used for making explosives, 1,974 vehicles and 895 motorcycles. He also added that 18,690 Jerrycans of vegetable oil were also seized.
“In a renewed effort to combat smuggling, irregular migration and other transnational organised crimes along the nation’s border coupled with the gradual reopening of the borders, Operation SWIFT RESPONSE (OSR) has been transformed into Nigeria’s Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT).
“It is now part of a Tripartite Operation, comprising Benin, Niger and Nigeria. With the reopening of the borders for commercial activities, items such as parboiled rice, frozen chicken, illicit drugs, among others remain prohibited.”
Note that Operation Swift Response, launched in August 2019 and coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to oversee the partial border closure.
This patrol team is now known as Nigeria’s Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) which is part of a Tripartite Operation comprising Benin, Niger, and Nigeria.
The recent border reopening, it would be recalled, also restricts importations of some bad commodities therefore placing the operations on further vigilance as smugglers have reportedly cashed in on the reopening to resume their illegal activities.
