A total of 14 seizures with a duty paid value of N91m were recorded in January in Kebbi. The state command has disclosed.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Ben Oramalugo, was quoted in a statement, to have revealed this while addressing journalists at the command recently.
He said the items seized included 8,975 litres of PMS loaded in 25-litre kegs, 189 bags of foreign parboiled rice and 71 bags of imported sugar.
“8,975 litres of PMS loaded in 25-litre kegs, 189 bags of foreign parboiled rice 71 bags of imported sugar, 42 bales of second-hand clothing and 36 sacks of used shoes, 74 cartons of bleaching cream, 110 solar batteries, 105 Cartons of medicine, seven used vehicles as means conveyance, and one tanker truck under detention, which is suspected to have been smuggled into the country in contravention of Federal Government extant policy, prohibiting the importation of vehicles through land borders. The Duty Paid value of the said items stands at N91,5m,” he explained.
Oramalugo said the seized PMS would be auctioned immediately.
He, however, said that it was disheartening that in spite of the humongous amount paid by the government to make PMS available to citizens at a reasonable price, some unscrupulous citizens choose to divert the product to neighboring countries for selfish financial benefits.
“We engage in anti-smuggling activities to protect our local industries and strengthen the nation’s border security. This is to prevent the influx of goods harmful to our health and the economy.
Therefore, as part of our mandate, we will create an avenue where only permissible goods from other neighboring countries and our indigenous goods will be traded without hindrance to achieve and even surpass the command’s set target for the year 2023,” Oramalugo remarked.
