Zone A Customs Strike Force Rakes N1.1b In 6Months

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 Comptroller General of  Nigeria Customs Service  Strike force operating  in Zone ‘A’  said it has generated the sum of N1.104 from importers of cargo that made false declaration on cargoes at the Lagos  seaports.
The sum was generated through raising of  a Debit Notes (DN)  by the federal government from importers who have  paid lesser duties across the six area commands of the service in the South West.
According to a statement made available to journalist by the Co-ordinator of the Strike force, Assistant Comptroller Abba Kakudi, said the amount generated through the Debits Notes was realized in the last six months.
The seizures, he said were between January 1 and June 11, 2020, adding that in spite of COVID-19 pandemic, which affected movement of goods, the Strike force team were able to raise DN to the tune of N1.104 billion.
Kakudi hinted that in the last two weeks, the Strike force team has given a hard chase to smugglers who were desperate to unleash economic dislocation of the country, the  effect of which has helped the  team to  make tremendous seizures in the period under consideration.

Giving the details of the seizures, he said “Our seizures include; 1000 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice with the Duty Payment Value (DPV) 13.252 million, 10 Tokunbo vehicles with DPV N31.184 million and 30 bales of second hand clothing with DPV of N2.160 million. It is important to say that in order to help the economy to grow, there is no need to import what we can produce here in Nigeria or bringing in prohibited items.”
He added that the federal government has encouraged a lot of rice farmers in the country, where local rice is being produced in large quantity and even healthier than foreign rice and traders should avail themselves of this opportunity to market our indigenous products in such a way, as to grow the economy maximally.
In his words “You will be surprised that in a bid to police the smugglers from bringing in these prohibited products, our officers face a lot of dangers as most of the smugglers are armed, sometimes not necessarily with rifles but matches, charms and other dangerous weapons, but we are not overwhelmed.

“This ugly situation is experienced more around the creaks where inhabitants mobilise some underaged people against us, to the extent of calling us names as well as some stoning us, all in a bid to make or secure seizures.” he quipped

He however  appealed to those who believe that smuggling is very lucrative to desist from it as Customs officers are  always a step above them in all their plots and strategies, saying that a smugglers is an economic saboteur and such trade cannot be the best means of livelihood due to inherent dangers as well as loses to those behind it.
Smuggling, he said,  ruins the economy of any nation,  a lot of incentives have been provided by the Federal Government to revamp the nation’s economy and it should not be allowed to be reversed.

While warning importers and agents against aiding and abetting in the smuggling business, he commended the Comptroller General of the Customs, Col Hameed Ali (rtd) for providing all the required logistics

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