Customs FOU Kaduna seizes goods worth N1.6bn
The Federal Operation Unit, FOU, Zone ‘B’ Kaduna of the Nigeria Customs Service, NSC, has seized items from January to June worth N1.6 billion.
The Comptroller FOU Zone ‘B’ Mustafa Sarkin-Kebbi said they made 645 seizures worth Duty Paid Value, DPV, of N1,668,014,050 from January to June, as against 425 seizures with DPV of N762,051,950 recorded within the same period in 2019.
The Comptroller, while briefing journalists in Kaduna, gave a breakdown of the various seizures made within the period under review.
According to him, “seized items from January to June include 157 vehicles; 6,340 (50kg) bags of foreign parboiled rice; 2,276 kegs of vegetable oil; 2,352 cartons of spaghetti/macaroni; 162 bags of foreign sugar, and 1,324 cartons of soap.
“Other items are 1,713 bales of textile materials; 14 cartons of mosquitoes coil; 394 cartons of various pharmaceuticals; 298 cartons of tomatoes paste; 270 pieces of used tyres; 1,167 bags of NPK fertilizers; 291 kegs of PMS, and 484 parcels of India hemp.
“The revenue collected from smuggled vehicles from January to March amounted to N2,030,455,802.”
The Comptroller said from January to June 2019, the total number of seizure is 424, which include 153 vehicles; 6,618 bags of parboiled foreign rice; 820 cartons of spaghetti; 167 bags of sugar; 856 kegs of vegetable oil; second-hand clothing —147 bales of second-hand clothing, 634 pieces of used tyres; 1,680 cartons of medicament with DPV of N762,051,950.
“The successes achieved did not come without challenges, which include attacks on the personnel of the unit by bandits and kidnappers allegedly engaged by the smugglers for them to have their way easily.”
Also, he added: “18 defendants have been arrested in connection with the aforementioned seizures and are being prosecuted accordingly.
“We call on the public to assist us with relevant information that will help to checkmate the activities of the smugglers who are causing economic sabotage to the government.”