The Nigeria Customs Service, at the weekend, said smuggling has a direct link with violent crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery and human trafficking.
It said all the arms and ammunition used by bandits, kidnappers and armed robbers were smuggled into the country by criminal gangs and that if left to go unchecked, it might undermine the security of the country.
The Acting Controller of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A, Ikeja, Hussein Kehinde Ejibunu, made this disclosure while admonishing residents of border communities, particularly youths among them, to shun smuggling, describing it as a destroyer of the economy of most developing countries.
The Acting Controller who also said that in the course of carrying out its constitutional mandate within its area of responsibility, the zone made a seizure of goods worth N587.9 million in February 2022 alone.
