As the festive period approaches, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Idiroko Command has rejiged its operations to prevent smuggling of arms and ammunition into the country through the border region. The Command introduced 24 hours border patrol with officers on alert to ensure that offensive items are not smuggled into Nigeria either through the forest or any unapproved route to the detriment of local industries.

The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Haruna Mamudu, disclosed this at Idiroko, sounding a note of warning for smugglers in the region to renounce their business or risk arrest and prosecution. “We are alert at every border point, working with the Police, Army and other security agencies in the Command to ensure that ammunition are not smuggled into the country, especially as the election period approaches”, he stressed.

Sunday Vanguard observed that while one side of the premises of the Command was filled with seizures of Tokunbo vehicles, rice and other items, the Controller’s premises was filled with seizures of motor cycles (Okada), used for conveyance of smuggled items.

He said, “The Command is working diligently towards achieving the mandate given it. For anti-smuggling, the Command recorded 1,482 seizures from December 2013 to November 2014, with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of over N1.5billion, as against 1,226 seizures with DPV of N1.1billion, realised in the same period in 2013. The huge success is attributed to reforms embarked upon by the Comptroller General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi Inde, on ECOWAS Protocol on Transit goods, which led to the quantum leap of imported vehicles on, which duties were paid, which hitherto were smuggled into the country without payment of import duties and taxes.”

He continued, “The unscrupulous importers are now reconditioned by the effective anti-smuggling campaign since I took over the affairs of the Command in December 2013. This has forced the smugglers to resort to lawful declaration of imports and subsequent duty payment instead of risking seizure of their goods. In reviewing the activities of the Command from December 2013 to November 2014, we collected over N6.4billion as against N5.3 billion revenue recorded the same period the previous year. This shows a difference of over N1billion, which is remarkable as this mark of revenue has never been attained in the Command.

“Nigeria/Benin relationship is going on smoothly because Benin is not happy that people go through un-approved routes within their border, so they are cooperating with the import scheme. Sometimes we record up to 200 vehicles coming into the car park daily and there is no case of vandalism or stolen vehicle since the scheme was introduced.”