Customs Federal Operations Unit Seizes N873m Vehicles

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja said it intercepted 13 units of imported vehicles, nine trailer loads of foreign rice, and 18,100 litres of premium motor spirit worth N873m.

The acting Customs Area Controller in charge of FOU A, Hussein Ejibunu, said this while addressing journalists in Ikeja, Lagos, recently.

Ejibunu added that some contrabands were intercepted along Iju-Ojuore, Ogun State in November.

“Other contrabands included 376 bales of used clothes; 1,926 cartons of frozen poultry products; 337 pieces of used compressors; three 40-foot containers;, 3,838 pieces of used tires; 13 used vehicles (Tokunbo), and 396 cartons of frozen fish. The total duty paid value of the seized goods was N873m,” Ejibunnu said.

He said that 11 suspects were arrested in connection with the different seizures.

“On revenue, the sum of N71m was generated through conscious and thorough documentary checks, followed by the issuance of demand notices on consignments that were found to have paid lesser amounts than the appropriate customs duty,” he added.

The FOU A Customs boss said that the seizures reflected the command’s commitment to discharge their functions aimed at protecting the nation’s economy and preventing the importation of prohibited and harmful products from entering our domestic markets.

Ejibunnu solicited the cooperation of Nigerians in the fight against smuggling.

“Smuggling operations that employ ingenious concealment methods can be used to traffic illegal goods across borders or checkpoints without being noticed. This call for the collaborative efforts of all citizens to support the Service by providing useful and timely information that would aid the anti-smuggling drive,” he explained.