Seme Customs Records Total Seizure of 28 Fuel Tankers

BY GBOGBOWA GBOWA

In its uncompromising war against all forms of economic smuggling, the Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has again foiled the stealing of 33,390 litres of premium motor spirit (PMS), known in local parlance as petrol; with a Duty Paid Value of eight million, eight hundred and eight thousand, two hundred and eighty (N8,808,280.00).

The command under the watch of Comptroller Mohammed Jibo have been unsparing in continually routing the plots of smugglers to use the area command as get away route, and have been a pain on the neck of recalcitrant economic saboteurs, especially petroleum products smugglers who had been at the receiving end from operatives of the command.

It is instructive that Jibo and his officers and men busted the smuggling of a total of nine hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and forty (930, 140) litres, equivalent of twenty (28) tanker loads of thirty-three thousand (33,000) litres each, between January 2022 to date; with a combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of one hundred and sixty-seven million, seven hundred and twenty-two thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one Naira, and fifty-one kobo (N167,722,751.51) only.

.A statement by the Command Public Relations Officer, SC Hussaini Abdullahi quoted the Seme Customs boss as saying that the customs will not cease from challenging and stopping any kind of economic sabotage nor negotiate with whoever is involved, and urged the recalcitrant doers to either desist of be prepared for the worst.

The statement reads: “To stem the tide against the smuggling of petroleum products, the Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has sustained surveillance and offensive patrol along the creeks and beaches within Badagry and its environs leading to remarkable successes.

“This led to the interception of one thousand, one hundred and thirteen (1,113) Jerry cans of PMS in (30) litres each, equivalent to thirty-three thousand, three hundred and ninety (33,390) litres during a routine patrol in beaches along the Badagry waterways.  The seizure with a Duty Paid Value DPV of eight million, eight hundred and eight thousand, two hundred and eighty (N8,808,280.00) only was made in the late hours of  Wednesday 8 December 2022.”

Comptroller Bello Jibo explained that, with this latest seizure, “the Command has so far intercepted a total of thirty-one thousand (31,000) jerry cans of PMS in 30 litres each, equivalent to nine hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and forty (930, 140) litres, about twenty (28) tanker loads of thirty-three thousand (33,000) litres each from January to date.

“The combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the aforementioned items stood at one hundred and sixty-seven million, seven hundred and twenty-two thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one Naira, and fifty-one kobo (N167, 722,751.51) only.”

It is also instructive that the  above record of seized petroleum products is unprecedented and the first of its kind in the history of this command.

Interestingly, Jibo has reiterated the unflinching resolve of his officers to maintain the traction in order to make smuggling unattractive while noting that the Command will not succumb to cheap blackmail paddled by economic saboteurs who believe that the only way to succeed in carrying out their nefarious activities, is by trying to malign the command through and peddling of falsehood and evil rumour.

While affirming that the command remains committed to fighting all forms of illegal and unlawful businesses to a standstill at our borders, Jibo called on Nigerians who are doing legitimate business along the corridor to continue to go about their normal activities as the command remain firm in its quest to facilitate legitimate businesses.