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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Sixty-four sacks and 150 wraps of Cannabis Sativa, weighing 777.5 kilogrammes, and two truckloads of rice, containing 1,248 (50kg) bags of rice, as well as 10,625 litres of petroleum, concealed in 425 kegs have been intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service, Oyo/Osun Area Command between September and October 2023.
Besides, the command also within the period, seized 24 bales of used clothing with duty paid value of N4,320,000, and one used bag with duty paid value of N180,000, one dane gun with duty paid value of 9,000, and 492 pieces of used tyres at N2,952,000.
The disclosure was made by the Cusom Area Controller for the command, Dr. Ben Oramalugo, at a press conference held at the headquarters of the area command in Ibadan on Friday to showcase the achievements of the command within the past seven weeks that Oramalugo assumed office in the command.
He also thanked the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for giving seven new operational vehicles – Toyota Buffalo, to the command to ensure the realisation of the command’s mandate in the area of suppression of smuggling.
He put the duty paid value of the seized rice at N27,456,000; petroleum at N2,125,000; and Cannabis Sativa at N14,138,460. On the occasion, he handed over the hemp to the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Oyo State Command. The delegation of NDLEA to the programme was les by the Deputy Commander, Operations and Training for the Command, Luka Yerima, who received the item on behalf of the agency’s state commander, Joe-Fadile Olayinka.
Oramalugo, however, put the revenue generated into the coffers of the Federal Government by the command between September and October, this year, at N11,679,732,583.91kobo.
“When added to the revenue collected for the period covering January to August 2023, the command has collected a sum of N59,087,983,670.64kobo.
“This feat is made possible by our resolve to continue to prioritise trade facilitation, religiously enforcing provisions of our extant laws aimed at facilitating legitimate trade, implementation of various measures to simplify Customs processes, reducing bureaucracy within the system with the aim of promoting legitimate trade an foster a conducive business environment for Excise traders operating within the Command’s Area of Responsibility.
