Oyo/Osun Customs Arrests Eight Suspects, Impounds Goods Worth N105 million in 3 Months

The Oyo/Osun command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it arrested eight suspects in the first quarter of 2019.

 

The suspects were arrested in connection with seizure of smuggled items but  have been granted administrative bail pending commencement of prosecution.

 

The command also said it intercepted 3,270 bags of 50kg imported parboiled rice, 700 kegs of 25 litres vegetable oil among other items worth over N105 million smuggled into the country within the first quarter of 2019.

 

According to the Customs Area Controller , of the command, Comptroller Zulkiflu Abdullahi who gave the figure while conducting journalists round the seizures in Ibadan, Tuesday,noted that the command collected N13,397,441,364,71 as revenue against the N6,032,964,650.94 collected within same period in the previous year, 2018.

 

The Customs boss quipped that the seizure and revenue collections were made possible by the resilience of his officers and men and through the help of other sister government agencies.

 

Among the smuggled items seized by the command include; one used ash colour Toyota Corolla with DOC of N3.003.628, One used Toyota Highlander with DPV of N4,072,713, One used Toyota Prado with DPV of N12,112,448, One used Peugeot 607 with DPV of N1,253,056.

 

Others are; 3,270 bags of 5okg imported parboiled rice with DPV  of N49,634,676, seven hundred kegs of 225 litres of vegetable oil worth N6,828,344.44.

 

Fifty bags of sugar with DPV of N800,977.00, twenty bales of second hand clothing with DPV of N2,047,920.00 and twenty nine means of conveyance including rickety vehicles and six motorcycles with DPV of N25,975,212.22k.

 

He said some of the seizures were through intelligence as most of the items were conveyed in rickety vehicles while the vegetable oil was concealed with bags of sachets water.

 

Speaking further, he told journalists that one Mr. Bayo Mafo has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Ibadan for impersonating as a Customs officer and obtaining money under false pretence.

 

He however vowed that the command would not relent on its efforts at sensitizing the general public on the negative impact of smuggling on the nation’s economy even as he said such platforms should encourage the smugglers to embrace legitimate means of livelihood.