Customs FOU Zone A Intercepts Sienna Bus with Arms, 9 Trailer-load of Rice
EJIBUNU Briefing newsmen on Wednesday
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) ON Wednesday said it has intercepted a Sienna bus with arms at Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
The Customs operatives found in the bus 15 bulletproof jackets, 15 pieces of jack knives and 20 pieces of pistol pouches.
The Acting Controller, Kehinde Hussein Ejibunu said among other seizures recorded by the Unit include I. 5,642 X 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice (equivalent to 9 trailer loads).
Others according to the Controller were 49 cartons of children school shoes,
181(87 kg) parcels of Indian Hemp,
357 kegs X 5 litres of vegetable oil,
unit of Honda Motorcycle,
used (Tokumbo) vehicles and
18,925 litres (757 X 25 litres jerry cans of premium motor spirit).
He said that the total duty paid value (DPV) of the seized goods was N462,708,875.
He disclosed that the maiden working visit of the Comptroller General, Wale Adeniyi MFR to the Unit recently was a morale booster for officers.
The Controller also said the Unit recovered sum of N66,493,346.41 from importers through issuance of demand notices (DN) as a result of underpayment.
He also disclosed that 13 suspects have been arrested as a result of the seizures, adding that their cases are being investigated and will be prosecuted.
On the seizures of cannabis sativa weighing 7,728 kilogrammes, he said the three suspects and the items have been handed over to officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Lagos State Command for further investigation and prosecution.
According to him, “It is pertinent to know that the importation of all forms of bulletproof materials such as vests, ballistic materials and vehicles, as well as parts and accessories for all military armaments and hardware such as guns, arms and ammunition of all kinds; lethal and non-lethal requires an end-user certificate.
“An end-user certificate is applied to, and issued by the office of the national security adviser which loses its validity after one year from the issuance date. Hence, anyone importing a controlled item must do so within the validity period of the end-user certificate.
“Seizures recorded within the period under review are a reflection of officers’ commitment to duty, and no compromise posture in the discharge of our statutory responsibilities; aimed at protecting the national economy and preventing the importation of prohibited, and harmful goods.
“This success story will not be complete without my expression of gratitude to the Ag. Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR whose maiden working visit to the Unit was a morale booster. I also use this medium to thank him and members of the management team for stoking our logistics for more gainful performance” .
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