Customs seizes 8413 bags of rice, 524 groundnut oil in Kwara

The Nigeria Customs Service on Saturday, seize 8,413 bags of 50kg rice and 524 25litres of groundnut oil in a village in Kwara State.

The seizure, according to the head of the Strike Force team in Zone B, Deputy Comptroller of Customs, DC Abdullahi Dahiru Musa Kirawa, said his team was battle ready to put an end to the evil of smuggling.

Speaking during a press briefing to showcase seizures made in four days of their operation in the zone, Kirawa said:

“The activities that led to the briefing was the ones that happened within the last four days.

“The same activities also happened on the 18 of December after which I addressed the press in Benin where all manners of seizure were showcased and the ingenuity improvised by smugglers to evade detention.

“I was also at Calabar on the 19th of December where we presented the activities of the strike force in that axis and emphasized the synergy that existed between sister agencies of the government particularly the Nigerian Navy in handing over 2158 bags of foreign suspected smuggled rice.

“While I was in zone C, smugglers on this axis thought they would have a free day and perpetuate their nefarious activities. The team that carried out the work sneaked into the zone unknowing to anybody and made seizure of 8413 bags 50kg of suspected foreign smuggled rice.

“These were evacuated from a village called Onikan along Kishi road off Alapa in Mooro local government area of Kwara State and 524 25litres of vegetable oils,” he said.

While speaking on arrest of the smugglers, Kirawa said “the rice were found in dwelling houses in the village which are turned into mini warehouses where the smuggle items were kept.

“The entire village of Onikan have their dwelling houses filled with rice, so we can’t start to arrest everybody in the village but I appeal to the leadership of the village to talk to and sensitise his subjects about the ills and evils of smuggling because it is detrimental to the economy and there are inherent dangers associated with it such as smuggling of arms and ammunition, hard drugs, etc.”