The
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’,
Owerri has continued to effectively checkmate the excesses of smugglers
of contraband goods in the country following the latest seizure of a
total of 24,273 cartons of imported frozen poultry products with a Duty
Paid Value (DPV) of #256,264,200.
In
a press statement released by the Public Relations Officer of the Unit,
Onuigbo Ifeoma, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Haruna Mamudu
said that the items which were cleverly and deceitfully concealed in a
Scania truck with an inscription ‘DHL’ were seized on the Benin axis in
Edo State.
Haruna, who disclosed this while
briefing newsmen at the Customs Warehouse in Benin said that the Duty
Paid Value (DPV) of the items impounded stood at #256,264,200 just as
three suspects were arrested by the eagle-eyed Customs men on duty in
connection with the illegal business.
The
Customs Comptroller, who spoke of the consequences usually associated
with the consumption of foreign frozen poultry products preserved with
chemicals meant for the preservation of dead bodies, regretted that a
number of untimely deaths had occurred as a result of this.
He
said that the NCS had continued to ensure maximum media publicity in
respect of the dangers posed to human health by imported frozen poultry
products and warned those still engrossed in the illicit business to
desist forthwith in their own interest or face the full weight of the
law.
Represented
by the Deputy Comptroller in charge of Enforcement, Mr. Oladesu Shola
regretted that while the Nigeria Customs had remained resolute,
consistent and diligent in the war against smuggling, those involved in
the unpatriotic act had continued to devise and perfect many plans to
achieve their illegal ambitions.
He
boasted that the NCS is now well fortified, better equipped, trained
and transformed to deal decisively with smugglers wherever they operate
with a superlative intelligence gathering system and unit.
He
assured that those already in the Customs’ net would undergo a thorough
investigation and if found culpable would be made to face the music
accordingly.
“We
are now talking of a change but regrettably these smugglers are not
ready to embrace the change meant for the betterment of our country. We
have no other country called ours and therefore, all hands must be to
the pump to salvage it,” he said.
Ifeoma Onuigbo,
Public Relations Officer in Owerri,
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS),
Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’, Owerri
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