Owerri Customs FOU Records N5bn Seizures, Recovers N152m

BY FUNMI ALUKO

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone “C” says it recorded  Duty Paid Value of over N5billion, in addition to recovering revenue receipts estimated at over N152 million the year ended 2023, giving smugglers and economic saboteurs a run for their nefarious activities.

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The Customs Unit Controller, Comptroller Kayode Kolade who disclosed above during the decoration  of the unit’s the promoted officers, attributed the success of the seizures leading to the recovery as a result of hard-work, resilience, dedication to duty and commitment of his men and officers.

Among the 46 lucky officers promoted and decorated is the Unit Public Relations Officer, Jerry Attah, recently promoted Chief Superintendent of Customs.  A statement signed by Attah indicate that the unit put the total Duty Paid Value of the seizures at Five Billion, Three Hundred and Fifty-one Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty Six Thousand, Three Hundred and Ninety naira (N5,351,826,390.00) only.

The statement reads,” While three (3) officers were promoted from the rank of Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) to the rank of Assistant Comptroller (AC); Five (5) from Superintendent of Customs (SC) to Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC) and three (3) from the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Customs (DSC) to SC.

“Also, two (2) officers from Assistant Superintendent of Customs I (ASC I) to DSC; six (6) from ASC II to ASC I; seventeen (17) from IC to ASC II ; eight (8) from Assistant Inspector of Customs (AIC) to IC and one person from Customs Area I (CA I) to AIC.

Comptroller Kolade listed the seized items to include pangolin scales, foreign parboiled rice, cannabis sativa (AKA Indian hemp), fake pharmaceutical products, tramadol, used vehicles, used tyres, used clothing and explosive raw materials among others.

The Comptroller also said that as a result of the interventions of his officers in checkmating the activities of fraudulent agents at the seaports, lots of revenues, hitherto lost, have been recovered to the tune of One Hundred and Fifty Two Million, Four Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand, Two Hundred and Fourteen Naira (N152,492,214.00) only.

While charging the promoted officers to live above board and continue to justify the confidence reposed in them by the Service, he thanked the Comptroller General of Customs, Wale Adeniyi MFR dsm fnipr psc (+) , for his continued support and fatherly disposition part of which has resulted in the promotion of officers and eased up the activities of officers.

His words: “ Let me use this opportunity to appreciate the Comptroller-General of Customs, Wale Adeniyi MFR and his management team through the Board of the NCS for this privilege and promise our determination and zeal to perform even more as we wear our new ranks.

“New rank comes with new and more responsibility and we must deliver on our mandate. One thing that is constant in life is change. Due to the recent promotion, there will be changes in our roster and we must justify our relevance in duty assignments. We need to improve our performance this year to meet the target of N5.7 trillion set by the Service and I believe we can do it.”