FOU, Owerri records N19.6bn seizures in six months

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, zone  “C’  in the first half of 2017 recorded  91seizures worth N1,735,665,304 and also recovered   underpayment to the tune of N225112,544.
The Area Controller,  Amajam B.A who revealed this during a media parley with journalists to showcase his command’s activities for the last six months warned that  any brand of unregistered imported rice wherever it is seen, since such items are a violation of the Nigeria Customs trade register, and are  safely classified as smuggled goods will be seized .
The Customs  boss  said the extant Customs and Excise Management Act,  (CEMA)frowns at unauthorized imports, especially food items, which are considered unfit for consumption since these items lacks safety checks
The  half year report shows  remarkable improvement on the unit’s anti-smuggling activities.
The month  of May 2017,  topped the chat with N91, 868, 700. 00 generated from seizures and  N10, 646, 477. 00 collected in Debit Notes from underpayments.
The  various seizures consist  of 2,993 bags of rice loaded in a Mark Truck, 380 cartons of soap, 2017 model Range Rover Sport Jeep and 4,118 cartons of imported frozen poultry.
Other seizures are a Mercedes Benz G65 (AMG), 1x40ft container of assorted commodities including 10, 000 pieces of children bags, 303 pieces of suitcases, 15 television sets, 240 pieces of jewelries etc.
Amajam explained that all the seized items contravened extant fiscal guidelines. He further disclosed that other seized items in its custody are undergoing screening and investigations. He revealed that majority of the seizures were made by his patrol units in Benin, Enugu, Onitsha, Eleme and Mfum areas of the zone.
He also said that his officers and men arrested some suspects in connection with the seizures, explaining that while some of the suspects have been granted bail, others are still undergoing investigations , hinting that legal efforts for prosecution of indicted suspects by relevant departments of the service and government are in progress.
“We arrested suspects in connection with some of the seizures but were granted bail as the law stipulates. Let me at this point explain that the procedure is not to have any suspect in detention for more than 48 hours without an offer of bail. Most of the suspects met the bail conditions and have been released while we carry out further investigations and litigations”, he said.