Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service yesterday said it had intercepted 765 bags of smuggled rice and 561 jerricans of vegetable oil in the last six days with Duty Paid Value of N10,199,000.00.
The acting Comptroller of the Command, Kirawa Abdullahi, who disclosed this to journalists at a press conference he held in Katsina, said the smuggled items were intercepted at different locations in the state base on intelligence reports.
He said: “The command within six days has made seizures of 765 bags of smuggled rice, 561 jerricans of vegetable oil, 213 cartons of noodles and 35 bales of second-hand clothes with Duty paid Value of N10,199,000.00.”
Abdullahi appealed to business community to see the anti-smuggling exercise as an opportunity to further create a conducive environment for local businesses to thrive in the overall interest of national security and development. In a related development, the Sector 4 command of the National Border Drill Operation has said it has intercepted 420 bags of smuggled rice in the last 90 days.
The sector also disclosed that six suspects were apprehended in Katsina and Kebbi states in connection to the seizures within the period under review.
Sector 4 comprises Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Kaduna States with officers from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Nigeria Army, Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), Nigeria Air Force (NAF), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Department of State Service (DSS).
The Coordinator of the Sector, ACG, Bashir Abukakar said the smuggled rice were intercepted in Kongolom border and Katsina metropolis.
He said: “About 202 foreign bags of rice were seized from Kongolom axis. We equally got some from Katsina town which is about two J5 and each J5 carry approximately 110 bags. We also intercepted two J5 with smuggled vegetable oil.
We arrested two suspects in Katsina and four suspects in Kebbi States”.
