Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
North Central Joint Border Patrol Team, Sector 3 of the Nigerian Customs Service has said that it intercepted a Toyota Land Cruiser of a serving Federal Lawmaker Representing Ikwere Federal Constituency of Rivers State, Hon. Chidi Nwoka, after it was snatched at gunpoint around Gwarimpa axis of Abuja.
The Coordinator of the Team, Mr. Olugboyega Peters, who made the disclosure in Ilorin yesterday at a press briefing on the activities of the team between January and December 2022, said that “the Toyota Land Cruiser was intercepted in November 2022 by our operatives deployed to Suleja axis of Niger State during a routine patrol.”
He said that “the vehicle with registration number KUJ 570 MB from Abuja heading to Kaduna and our operatives requested for the vehicle’s customs documents from the occupants.
“The two occupants who could not produce any document disembarked from the vehicle, pretending to be making a call to the owner and suddenly took to their heels and ran into the bush and abandoned the vehicle. This raised the suspicion of our operatives.”
Peters added that they found a complimentary card bearing details of a National Assembly Member while conducting search on the vehicle
“The said Hon. Member was subsequently contacted and officers were confronted with shocking news that the vehicle in question was snatched few hours earlier from his driver at gun point around Gwarimpa axis of Abuja.
“Gentlemen of the press, I want to assure you that once the customs duty of the said vehicle is produced by the owner and confirmed to be genuine, the sector will hand over the vehicle to Nigeria Police Force for further investigations and theft clarification”.
The Coordinator stated further that “during the period under review, Sector 3 has intercepted a total of three stolen vehicles. Namely; Lexus RX 350 without number plate sized around Benue axis, Toyota Yaris with Registration Number BEN-59-EZ apprehended around Lokoja Axis of the Sector and Toyota land cruiser jeep intercepted at Suleja axis as earlier mentioned.
“It is also worthy of note that Sector 3 during the period, successfully recorded 187 seizures with a duty paid value of N 302, 590, 252.00.”
He stressed that “on Friday, October 21, 2022, the Sector 3 operatives on information patrol were attacked by a group of hoodlums who laid ambush and pelted them with stones, bottles, cutlasses, sticks, charms, guns and other dangerous items at Igboho town of Orelope Local Government of Oyo State, when officers were coming to Headquarters with the seized rice and PMS at Sinau-Kenu Road in Baruten LGA of Kwara.
“One of our officers ASCI Saheed Aweda succumbed to the cold hands of death while three officers sustained life threatening injuries and later recovered after a long stay at hospital.”
He, however, said that the team would not rest on their oars so as to put an end to the activities of smugglers in the country.
