Ogun State Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has announced war against smugglers attacking and threatening the lives of officers on duty.
The Command in just two weeks made a spectacular seizure of brand new Range Rover, Velar, 2018 model, with a Duty Paid Value, DPV, of over N51.2million.
The Command also seized 1,168 bags of foreign rice, 221 gallons of vegetable oil, 13 tokunbo vehicles, 12 means of conveyance, 21 motorcycles, five sacks of second-hand shoes, two sacks of second-hand bags, with a total DPV of N153.8 million.
Sani Madugu, the Customs Area Controller, CAC, of the Command, while addressing Journalists at the Command’s premises at Idiroko, explained that the latest series of Range Rover ‘Velar’ was launched on May 1, 2017, while the one they seized is the 2018 model.
On how they made such unique seizure, he said, “Our men seized the vehicle while on routine patrol. This car is very different from other vehicles, as you can see the handle is inside. When our officers seized the car, the smugglers jumped into the bush, leaving the remote control of the vehicle on the ground.
My surprise is why a person bought a vehicle of over N51million and refused to pay duty to government through the seaport because importation of vehicles through the land borders is banned.
Our intelligence unit is doing very well, that is why you see these number of seizures within few days. Responding to question on the condition of the officer attacked a few days ago at Ibeyi river while on duty, he said, “He is responding to treatment at the hospital and the service will not abandon him.
This is for you to see that our lives are in danger but no manner of attack or intimidation by economic saboteurs will deter us from doing our job.
As they are attacking us, we are left with no option than to fight back. We are battle-ready for them. They are not happy because we are blocking all avenues of smuggling within Idiroko”
“We are calling on the traditional rulers within our area of coverage to call their wards to order. The people at Idiroko see smuggling as their birthright, but we have a duty to implement government policies for local industries to thrive. So, they cannot prevent us from carrying out our statutory responsibility”.
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