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•Arrests 18 suspects with contraband worth N840m
By Steve Agbota
The Seme Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Tuesday, said that it intercepted eight tankers loaded with petrol, 428 wild animals, 10 trailer loads of rice, other contraband and generated over N2.634 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2024.
The Command also arrested a notorious smuggler, thus ending his reign of terror in the area as he will be visited with the full weight of the to serve as a deterrent to other criminals.
The command also arrested 18 suspects linked to smuggling and other crimes.
The Customs Area Controller, Seme Kraken Joint Border Post, Comptroller Timi Bomodi, made these disclosures at a media briefing held at the Command.
According to him, efforts in tackling various crimes have led to 474 interception of various contraband items within the period under review.
“These items includes; PMS: 12,448 Jerrycans x 30 liters each which is equivalent to eight tanker loads, rice: 6,467 bags of 50kg, which is equivalent to 10 trailer loads, 15 used vehicles, 1,251parcels of cannabis sativa. We note that there has been a marked increase in the illegal importation of Cannabis from Ghana and different methods have been used by criminals in their effort to beat our officers all of which has been neutralized.
“Others are wild animals, which include, 20 live parrots, two Honey badgers, Pelican birds, 404 live tortoises, 3,023 items of general merchandise, 149 packages of Codeine, 45 pieces of used tyers. All with a combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N840,003 million only,” he said.
Conversely, he said the Command has continued to sustain the tempo in the area of revenue generation, saying in the period under review, the command collected a total sum of N2.634 billion and the amount surpasses that of 2023 for the same period by 272 per cent.
On export, he said the Command facilitated 143,468 metric tonnes of export produce, with FOB value of N35.199 billion, which is equivalent to $38.461 million.
According to him, the NESS value paid is N174.518 million, adding that a total of 406 SGDs were utilised from January to May 26 2024 for export alone.
“In compliance with the directive of the Comptroller-General of Customs that Commands give periodic reports of their activities to members of the public, and in the spirit of open governance, we at Seme-Krake Joint Border Post are delighted to present the successes recorded thus far this year,” he said.
He revealed that the Command has also set-up a complaint desk to address issues concerning the molestation of females on this corridor.
“We strongly frown at any act endangering the health and well-being of the vulnerable population of border stake-holders who go about their normal and legitimate businesses daily. Stringent action shall be taken against any officer of the any agency found guilty of molestation of any females on this corridor,” he added.
