Poultry products
By John Iwori
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a seizure of over 2, 590 cartons of assorted poultry products.
The items which have a duty paid value of over N15 million were seized by men and officers of the Federal Operations Unit, (FOU), Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, Lagos.
The interception of the contraband is coming on the heels of an earlier seizure of goods in IPL by men and officers of NCS during a routine patrol of areas within its jurisdiction.
Customs Area Controller (CAC), FOU, Ikeja, Lagos, Comptroller Dan Ugo made this disclosure, while conducting some journalists and representatives of the National Administration for Foods, Drugs and Control (NAFDAC) round the destruction site located in the workshop area of the command.
Ugo revealed that his latest operational method which is ‘intelligence based’ has provided the platform for the actualisation of this feat.
He stressed the need to protect local farmers and the attendant creation of jobs from the negative effect of those he described as “unpatriotic persons” who have taken smuggling as a means of livelihood.
He explained that this was the basis for the latest onslaught on smugglers by men and officers of NCS, FOU, Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, Lagos.
“The unit is determined more than ever to enforce full compliance with the headquarters’ directive on zero tolerance for the importation of poultry products into the country. Our mandate is clear and our operational readiness to frontally confront this hydra headed monster is total”.
He commended Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi and NCS management team for their unalloyed support and encouragement in the provision of what he called an “enabling environment” which informed the achievements the unit has recorded so far.
He assured the public that the unit would ensure the sustenance of its campaign aimed at suppressing smuggling to its barest minimum.
The CAC enjoined importers of items in the IPL to venture into other legal businesses to avoid incurring more financial losses.