NCS arrests 41 smugglers, intercepts 800 bags of fertiliser, other items in Oyo/Osun

From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Oyo/Osun Command has intercepted 800 bags of NPK(fertiliser) on the basis that the consignment did not have the mandatory end-user certificate from the Office of the National Security Adviser, as the command also arrested 41 suspected smugglers.

The command also seized 340 blocks of specially-packaged Cannabis Sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp, as well as 500 drums of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and 320 jerry cans of PMS that are 25-litre each in the command’s area of operation.

The comptroller, Mrs Helen Ngozi, who briefed journalists at the headquarters of the Oyo/Osun command in Ibadan on Tuesday, said the seizures were made on different occasions by men of the command between May and July, 2020, adding that  a total of 48 seizures were made.

She noted that the 800 bags of NPK (fertiliser) were confiscated because the NCS knows “the security implication of having such items without notifying the Office of the National Security Adviser for checks and monitoring. It must be noted that NPK can be used to make explosives, and we are aware of the security situation in the country.”

Ngozi put the duty paid (DPV) value of the fertiliser at N18,702,000, adding that the cumulative DPV of the contrabands intercepted between January and July 20, 2020 was N483,191,238. She explained that the cumulative DPV represents 170.39 per cent increase if compared with same period in 2019, which recorded N178,698,340.39.

“We have also collected N32,020,103,911.90 between January and June, which is a 65.4 per cent increase in revenue generation compared to last year,” she stated, while she also noted that “One truck-load containing 800 bags of NPK fertilizer with DPV of N18,702,000 without end user certificate was also seized. Other seizures made include 2,054 bags of 50 kilogrammes each of imported parboiled rice with DPV of N82,776,200; a total of 85 bales of second hand clothing with DPV of N16,680,919; and 480 units of used tyres with DPV of N10,428,048.

Ngozi, however, handed over the 340 blocks of compressed consignment of the Indian hemp to officials of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), led by the Staff Officer, Operations and Intelligence, Segun George, who commended the partnership between the anti-drugs agency and Customs, adding: “We shall not rest on our oars. The arrest made now is a testimony of the collaboration among sister security agencies in the country.”