The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS Federal Operations Unit, FOU Zone A, said yesterday it recovered one pump action rifle, two locally made guns, 35 live cartridges from smugglers after a gun battle around Idiroko, Ogun State.
The unit also disclosed that it recovered N107.8 million as duty underpayment from goods cleared from the seaports and border post.
Disclosing this at a briefing in Lagos yesterday, Customs Area Controller, CAC, of the Unit, Hussein Ejibunu, said goods with Duty Paid Value, DPV, worth N633.4 million were also seized last month.
Ejibunu explained that the impounded items include 7,328 50 kilograms bags of foreign parboiled rice, 121,550 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, 68 cartons of frozen poultry and 37 crates of eggs used to conceal rice.
According to him, other items include 150 kilograms of Indian hemp, 10 pieces of military camouflage bags, 1,955 bales of used clothing and six units of used cars all in the month of September.
The Customs boss said: “The unit made series of seizures with total Duty Paid Value, DPV of N622.4 million. In our efforts to prevent losses to government, we also recovered the sum of N107.8 million.
“The Federal High Court passed judgements in favor of this Unit on three criminal cases; securing the conviction of six people for being in possession of smuggled goods. While six civil suits against the Unit were dismissed for lack of merit.
“This is the highest single seizure of used clothing made by the service this year, and we have commenced investigation to know those behind this massive importation, and at what entry point theseclothes came into the country.
“Smuggling of used clothes has economic and health implications on our people. The government in its wisdom, wants the local textile industry to enjoy protection and create more jobs for Nigerians from the cotton farms through the textile and garment factories to our markets.”
“”This is coming at a time the world is wary of monkey pox which mode of transmission includes clothing. According to a World Health Organization fact-sheet, Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with materials contaminated with the virus.”
