By Godfrey Bivbere

Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi has ordered the Federal Operations Unit which is the anti-smuggling unit of the service to withdrawal from the Lagos highways with immediate effect and focus “henceforth focus their attention on the warehouses where contraband goods are stored”

The new move is considered by maritime stakeholders has new policy change of the Service in its fight against the smuggling. The Controller General, who made the disclosure on his way to Brussels to attend the World Customs Organization WCO, however assured that their withdrawal from the roads would not compromise their effectiveness in terms of national security or economy.

“They are authorized to invoke their powers to search such suspected locations and bring operators of the facilities to book in line with the provisions of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), he said. He affirmed the effectiveness of the FOU as a proactive outfit, pointing out that the unit has clearly demonstrated it’s “capacity in enforcing compliance of stakeholders”, and added that the present review of its operations is in line with global best practices.

The Comptroller General, while reviewing the remarkable improvement in revenue collected into Government coffers only last week, lauded the Lagos anti-smuggling unit, (FOU), highlighting that the feat was not unconnected to a higher level of compliance and implementation of strategies to block possible revenue leakages.