The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, likes to flaunt its credentials whenever it impounds contrabands from smugglers and unscrupulous traders. It is like the biblical dictum of espousing a holier-than-thou attitude because one of the five fingers of a hand that claims to be upright, points to the well known graft being perpetrated by NCS personnel.
The Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’, Mohammed Garba, has announced that his men impounded various contrabands with Duty Paid Value of about N1billion last month. While parading the items before journalists in Lagos, Alhaji Garba said the unit intercepted the men, while attempting to beat the system through transfer of value and under-declaration.
The seized the items include, 18 assorted vehicles; 4,201 bags of foreign parboiled rice (about seven trailers); 2,619 cartons of frozen poultry products; 1,105 jerry cans of vegetable oil; 2,637 pieces of used tyres; 1,333 bales of used clothing; 2,001kg of Pangolin; 343kg of Elephant tusks, and many others.
Alhaji Garba said some of the vehicles were intercepted along the Ijebu-Ode Expressway while others were evacuated from car marts located in Lekki area of Lagos. He stated that the Unit also raided a house on Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, based on intelligence, where it evacuated 55 sacks of Pangolin shells valued at about N408million and 218 pieces of elephant tusks valued at about N85million.
The Customs Comptroller expatiated further: “You will recall that the responsibilities of the Nigerian Customs Service increased tremendously overtime because of the implementation of different International protocols and conventions”.
According to Alhaji Garba, international conventions require that Customs Services globally should protect wild life by checking illegal trade and killing of endangered species. Certainly, the Lagos Customs boss gives the performance of his team pass marks.
