Hyacinth Chinweuba
The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, on Thursday said it confiscated goods valued over N500 million from smugglers across the borders in Kwara from August 20, 2019, to date.
The Joint Border Operation Drill Coordinator in Charge of North Central States, Sector 3 Ilorin, Mr. Mohammed Garba, made the disclosure at a news conference on the seizure of contrabands in Ilorin.
According to him, the seizures included 12 trailers of rice, 52 different types of used vehicles and other vehicles used for conveying contraband goods with Duty Paid Value (DPV).
The sector coordinator further disclosed that 204 illegal migrants were repatriated within the same period.
He said: “During the period under review, 204 illegal migrants were repatriated.
“They include 100 Nigeriens, three Malians and two Chinese.
“We have so far recorded 124 seizures with total DPV of N568,763,380.”
Recalling that the Federal Government on Aug. 20, 2019, partially closed all land borders, the coordinator restated that it was for the betterment of the nation’s economy, the security of citizens and for the nation’s neighbours to abide by ECOWAS Protocols.
He also noted that part of their mandate was to stop fuel supply to communities within 20 kilometres radius of the border, stressing that they will implement the mandate to the latter.
Garba also recalled that the Speaker, Kwara House of Assembly, had paid a courtesy visit to his office to lament the hardship caused by the stoppage of fuel supply to border communities.
He said following that visit, they in turn visited and sensitised the border communities, traditional rulers, rural dwellers, IPMAN and other critical stakeholders on the benefits of the border closure.
According to him, during the visit, only three trucks carrying petroleum products were found to have genuine documents and did not operate within 20 kilometres radius.
“The trucks were unconditionally released to the owners.
“We want to re-echo this for the umpteenth time that the border closure is not targeted at any individual, group of persons or any community but for the protection of the nation’s economy.
“The current Customs administration, under the able leadership of Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and his management team, has zero-tolerance for corruption.
“We will continue to police our area of operations in line with the federal government directives on the partial closure of our national borders,’’ he said.
