Etim Effiong
Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Strike Force in Zone ‘A’ Lagos, says, they have raised debit notes of more than N1,104,704,527bn to prevent loss.
He added that the debit notes have been redirected to the Federal Government coffers through the area commands, where such goods originated.
It was gathered that the debit notes, which represent the figure, were issued and paid for in January 1 and June 11, this year.
The coordinator of the Strike Force, Assistant Comptroller Abba Kakudi, while enlightening the public on the dangers associated with smuggling, stated that it is penny wise, pound foolish for any importer/agent to engage in smuggling as there is no escape route in the Lagos zone.
He stated that it was more reasonable to go through the legal process of importation, as in the long run, which he said, is cheaper.
Kakudi said that his men have cordoned off the flashpoints in the zone and raking in the smuggled items, which are also prohibited from importation.
According to him, the creeks are areas where members of the strike force have beamed their searchlight and the volume of goods intercepted in the areas is revealing.
He added that besides rice seizure, secondhand vehicles are not left out, as state-of-the-art cars largely made the list, while not leaving out secondhand clothing, as 30 bales of such items, with the means of conveyance, were also seized.
Kakudi said the total Duty Paid Value of the seizure was more than N36.5million.
The coordinator explained that Customs would not relent in reducing smuggling to the barest minimum.
He said, “It is important to say that in order to help the economy to grow, there is no need to import what we can produce here in Nigeria or bringing in prohibited items.”
Kakudi said that the FG has encouraged many rice farmers in the country, where local rice is being produced in large quantity and even healthier than those imported into the country.
He asked traders to avail themselves of the opportunity to market Nigeria’s indigenous products to grow the economy maximally.