Nigeria Customs vowed to enforce more on fake products

                                                                            

 Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit, Zone C, Owerri, is poised to curtail the moving trend of smugglers despite attempts by the economic saboteurs to blackmail customs operatives

For sometimes now, the renewed onslaught of the Federal Operations Unit, Owerri, against smuggling of contraband and fake goods, vehicles with fake documents, and other illegalities in the zone has been visited with cheap blackmail in the pages of newspapers.

A statement endorsed by the Public Relations Officer of FOU Zone C, Owerri, Onuigbo Ifeoma , made available , said smugglers of fake drugs had commenced a campaign of falsehood against the zone due  to unrelenting onslaught against smuggling activities. 

"They have now resorted to using human rights groups and faceless groups to attack the zone and alleging all sorts of things, including compromise against our unit in a recent national publication at a time the unit should be commended for raising the anti-smuggling tempo to a greater height. This act is not only illegal but unpatriotic against Nigeria and the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari, that has not hidden its determination to stamp out all forms of corruption and fight against all the illegalities that have been drawing the country backward.

The smugglers and their co-travelers they use in attacking the zone on the pages of newspapers make their activities suspicious, as they have demonstrated a senseless sympathy with economic saboteurs  for spurious allegations to be churned out against our uncompromising operatives soon after we made 32 seizures with Duty Paid Value of over N814 million last month, the highest so far this year throws a spanner in the will of progress. In retrospect, we also arrested 24 suspects in connection with the seizures with 21 cases in courts for the month of September alone.
Also last month, we made underpayment recovery of N26,272,009 into government coffers and therefore should be commended instead of vilified,” she said.

The NCS said their intelligence has revealed that the present desperation was borne out of the smugglers desire to make money from Yuletide sales billed for December.

“We will continue encouraging legitimate trade while frustrating unlawful imports and smuggling. We are not surprised that these wild allegations are coming barely two weeks after we clamped down and stopped some merchants of deaths from bringing fake and deadly drugs into the country.We know that criminal cartels must fight back but we know they are fighting a lost battle as we shall continue to interdict, seize prohibited and smuggled goods as well as arrest suspects involved in the acts within the law. We find it imperative to educate members of Campaign for Democracy and the public that we implement government extant laws as enshrined in the Customs Excise Management Act (CEMA) and other enabling legislation.  We are not and will never be open for any form of dialogue to compromise our statutory duties.
We advise Campaign for Democracy to visit our warehouse and show proof of any seizure wrongly made by presenting evidences of genuine duty payments.” She said.

“We also advise them to show to the public, the shops where customs operatives stock or put for sale seized goods. On the allegations of official misconduct by our patrol teams, the human right group may further avail us with information to enable the Customs Area Controller, Dimka Victor David to investigate and bring to book any erring officer aiding and abating unlawful activities.