The Oyo/Osun Customs Area Command has intercepted over three thousand bags of foreign parboiled rice, with a revenue of over N4billion for the month of January 2021.
The seizures which include gallons of vegetable oil, bales of second hand clothing, used tyres and assorted tokunbo vehicles amongst others came despite the decision by the federal government to reopen land borders.
Addressing newsmen at the Command headquarters, Ikolaba, Ibadan, the Area Controller, Mr Adamu Abdulkadir in a maiden press conference said between November 2020, and January 2021 , the command has made series of detentions and seizures amounting to a total duty paid value of about N400,000.
While saluting the gallant and uncompromising officers for their resilience in the face of many challenges, the Area Controller noted that though, January is a slow month, the Command was able to rake into the coffers of the federal government a total of about N4billion revenue due to the expertise, meticulousness and sense of observation of the excise officers.
He called on those bent on sabotaging the nation’s economy to have a rethink, as the Command would not hesitate to track, apprehend and prosecute anyone found engaging in smuggling in accordance with the laws of the land.
The customs boss explained that, the Command under his management has further enhanced it’s anti-smuggling strategies by taking the battle to the door steps of the smugglers, rather than waiting for them to come out in an operation codenamed ‘Operation Fish Out’.
“While invoking sections 147 and 151 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap C45 LFN 2004 with the power to search the premises for uncustom goods and power to give rewards to informants who give genuine intelligence to help improve the capabilities of the command on anti-smuggling duties.
“We shall further sharpen our intelligence and enforcement capabilities to fight smuggling and enforce compliance with reference to extant laws guiding our procedures and rules of engagement.
“We shall deploy all our strength and available logistics to ensure success in the battle against those who would like to dare the capability of officers of Oyo/Osun Area Command. Oyo and Osun States will be made unbearable for economic saboteurs”, he said.
Some of the items seized between November 2020, and January 2021 included 3052 bags of rice with Duty Paid Value of N125million , 8×25 litres of vegetable oil with Duty Paid Value of N220,000 , 60 bales of second hand clothings (okrika) with Duty Paid Value of about N16million , 246 pieces of used tyres with Duty Paid Value of about N3million and 8 units of Toyota Camry ( 2020 Models) with Duty Paid Value of about N212 million amongst others.
