In its anti-smuggling drive, the Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has made 50 seizures and eight detentions of goods, resulting in a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N66,976,000 million.
The area command also recorded its first in history, as it collected an excise duty of N10,658,695,609.41 billion in June 2021, which had been the highest collected in a month in the Command, out of the of the N15,871,894,311.83 billion generated as revenue between May 1 and July 6, this year, thereby bringing the cumulative revenue collected for the 2021 fiscal year to N36,658,156,560.99 billion.
The Area Controller of Customs in Oyo/Osun Area Command, Adamu Abdulkadir made this known on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, during a press briefing at its headquarters at Ikolaba, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Customs Area Controller listed the seizures made to include 3,200 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice with DPV of N56,320,000 million, 740 pieces of tyres with DPV of N4,440,000 million, 47 bales of used clothing with DPV of N5,640,000 million, seven bales of used shoes with DPV of N252,000, eight cartons of foreign tomato paste with DPV of N64,800 and 15 cartons of foreign insecticide with DPV of N259,200.
Abdulkadir also said that two suspects were arrested during the period, but granted bail pending the determination of their cases.
He said that the achievements were made possible by the dexterity of the area command officers who committed themselves to serving the nation and making Oyo and Osun states better for the citizenry.
Saying that the Controller General of Customs,Col. Hameed Ali (retd) had mandated more stringent measures to further strengthen the interception capabilities of customs officers in collaboration with the extant laws and regulations guiding import/export procedures of the country, the Area Controller remarked that this made Customs officers to carry out their enforcement and anti-smuggling activities with utmost professionalism, caution and intelligence gathering.
Urging the public to cooperate with the Nigeria Customs Service in the implementation of government fiscal policies to help improve the economic and social welfare of the nation, he assured that the Oyo/Osun Area Command remained steadfast and committed to enforcing government policies in contribution to the growth and socio- economic development of the nation.
He also gave kudos to the Customs Intelligence Unit, Customs Police Unit, Joint Border Patrol Team, Federal Operations Unit and the Strike Force Team for their contributions and synergy in the course of their duties.
He spoke further that the collaboration of sister agencies, either through information or joint operations, had been greatly appreciated.
In addition , he expressed appreciation to the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force and the Operation Burst for their dependability and commitment.
Abdulkadir appealed to companies engaged in mining operations of precious stones and other national mineral assets within Nigeria to register their operations with the Nigeria Customs Service to avoid embarrassment and sanctions, in accordance with relevant sections of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap C45 LFN 2004.
