Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The Ogun State Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service, on Tuesday, said the command, in the month of August, intercepted and seized smuggled items with total duty paid value of N382,263,360 million.
The prohibited items include 33 vehicles, 6,194 bags of foreign rice, 395 kegs of vegetable oil, 1,954 pairs of used foot wears, 7 bales of second hand clothes, 45 cartons of frozen poultry products, 340 kegs of PMS and 160 cartons of juice.
Briefing journalists on the seizure at Idiroko Border Command, the Area Controller of the Ogun Area Command, Micheal Agbara, disclosed that the confiscated 6,194 bags of rice in August remained the highest monthly seizure, since the inception of federal government policy on agricultural development in the area of boosting local rice production.
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Agbara, who also disclosed that within the month, the Command generated a total revenue of N799,682,839.62, which according to him, exceeded the target of N727,775,499.91, set for it, added that the command equally participated in a joint operation, which has led to the seizure of large quantity of petroleum products in a creek at Ijoun area of Ogun State.
He explained further that the anti-smuggling success story of the command was a huge blow to smugglers, had wanted to take advantage of the Sallah festivities to perpetuate their illicit acts, noting “officers and men of Ogun Command have fulfilled the promise of curtailing the activities of economic saboteurs”.
Meanwhile, Agbara, said that NCS in the state has successfully handed over 11,057 bags of rice and other perishable goods to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bornu State, through Nigerian Army Corps of Transport and Logistics, in line with the directive from NCS’s headquarters.