By Godwin Oritse

THE Seme border command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, yesterday intercepted three bullet proof vehicles, even as it generated more than N1 billion for the month of September 2016.

The intercepted bullet proof vehicles include a black Jeep Escalade with Lagos number plate, GGE 225 BM; a black Toyota Land Cruiser (VKR) with Lagos number plate, LSR 906 AG and a black Mercedes Benz bus with a foreign number.

Inspecting the seized bullet proof vehicles, Customs Area Controller, Mr. Victor Dimka, disclosed that the security of the nation remained a top priority to the border commands of the Customs Service.

He reiterated that apart from generating revenue, suppressing smuggling and facilitating legitimate trade, the Customs Service had a complementary role of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation.

The controller added that the challenge of security was vital to the survival of the nation’s socio-economic and political system. He said there was a need to ensure that bullet proof vehicles were subjected to security procedure for approval from the office of the National Security Adviser before importation.

He said the command’s seizures in recent times attested to the alertness and the security consciousness of the anti-smuggling unit.

He further stated that the command located at the corridor of West Africa sub-region would not relent in its effort to combat smuggling and other cross border vices.

Dimka opined that when smuggling was drastically reduced through aggressive anti-smuggling operations, as in the case of Seme Command, legitimate trade across the frontier was facilitated and higher revenue generated.