According to Mohammed Yusuf, the Coordinator of Comptroller General Strike Force Team A, his team stopped N390 million worth of smuggled commodities from entering the nation through the Southwest in September.
Yusuf said this yesterday in Ikeja, Lagos, in front of news crews as he displayed the confiscated goods.
1500 x 50 kg bags of foreign parboiled rice, 839 bales of used clothing, 3,525 liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 900 bags of rice-covering cement, 1,670 mum rite tomato paste, 500 mum rite sardines, vehicles, one pump action raffle, one locally made pistol, and 14 live cartridges are among the items.
According to Yusuf, forbidden commodities that pose a threat to our nation’s economy include imported tomato paste, used clothing, the importation of automobiles over land borders, used tires, and rifles and ammunition without end-user certificates, among others.
According to him, illegal items brought into the nation often have negative effects and wind up in homes, leading to a variety of problems ranging from social unrest to psychiatric crises.
The coordinator claims that the team’s main priorities include ensuring that domestic industries be shielded from unfavorable overseas competition and various types of social security.
In addition, the team, according to him, earned N748 million through documentation checks and the filing of demand notices on shipments that were discovered to have been underpaid.
Usuf voiced his displeasure at the fact that some Nigerians would pay all tariffs and levies due to the customs authorities of other nations they import from while actively attempting to avoid paying such payments into the federal coffers.
He issued a warning to non-compliant traders, stressing that the Customs had strategically mobilized and deployed its personnel to carry out the necessary actions.
Additionally, he issued a warning that guilty unpatriotic importers and agents would be handled with in accordance with the law.
Additionally, Yusuf aimed to build a solid working relationship between Customs agents and the general people in terms of information exchange and moral support.
“As we are in the last quarter of the year; approaching the yuletide period, where recalcitrant traders and importers’ quest to make more profits through smuggling is at its peak. I would use this opportunity to appeal to importers and agents to be patriotic by making sincere declarations, and pay their duties accurately,” he said
