The Nigeria Customs Service, Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, has reported significant seizures of assorted items valued at over N13 million, as announced by the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Salisu Abdullahi, during a press briefing held on Friday, February 24, 2024, in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State.
Comptroller Abdullahi disclosed that the command recorded fifteen incidents of seizures involving various items, cumulatively valued at thirteen million, three hundred and fifty-two thousand, one hundred naira (N13,352,100.00) in Duty Paid Value (DV).
Among the seized items were 16,675 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), packaged in 643 × 25-liter jerry cans and 3 × 200-liter drums, along with 20 × 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice and a used Volkswagen Golf with a reconstructed fuel tank.
Highlighting the persistent challenge of smuggling Premium Motor Spirit, Comptroller Abdullahi revealed recent seizures of 245 jerry cans, each containing 25 liters of petrol destined for Cameroon. He emphasized that these seized items would be auctioned promptly in accordance with Section 246 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, with proceeds remitted to the Federation Account.
Despite the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, Comptroller Abdullahi lamented the continued smuggling of the product to neighboring African countries, underscoring the need for continued vigilance.
The Customs Area Controller also recalled previous seizures of expired and unregistered foreign juice and alcoholic beverages, including vodka, and noted that the command had been directed by the Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters to collaborate with NAFDAC officials to promptly destroy these items.
Comptroller Abdullahi reaffirmed the commitment of the Command, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, to combat smuggling activities relentlessly, asserting that strategic adaptations would be made to counter evolving tactics employed by smugglers.
“We want to unequivocally tell the smugglers that the more they change tactics, the more we change our own, and God willing, the truth will always prevail over falsehood,” he concluded.
