The Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the weekend announced a single seizure of contrabands with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N10billion in Ibadan, Oyo State.
In a press statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the unit, Peter Duniya and a copy made available to journalists, the acting Customs Area Controller, Usman Yahaya said the seizure was made at Ido-Eruwa road in one day.
According to the acting Customs Area Controller, “The contraband comprised of 34 fairly used and new vehicles which were laden with second-hand clothes, Indian hemp and foreign parboiled rice.
“The economic saboteurs met their waterloo when our operatives acted based on credible information, made a single seizure at Ido-Eruwa Road in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“The contrabands include 34 different brands of both new and used vehicles laden with banned items such as second-hand clothes, foreign parboiled rice and Indian hemp.”
However, Yahaya further stated that though there was stiff resistance from the smugglers who engaged the support of hoodlums, the Customs operatives displayed a high level of professionalism and restraint to secure the contraband to the Customs warehouse in Lagos.
“Our operatives were met with stiff resistance from a combination of smugglers, hoodlums and villagers. However, with the application of a high level of professionalism, the patrol teams were able to bring all the vehicles down to Lagos without any casualty,” the acting CAC added.
He, therefore, warned smugglers to desist from engaging in economic activities that sabotaged the government policies of making Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.
