Customs FOU Battles Smugglers Blackmail After N814m Seizures

By Andrew Airahuobhor,

Lagos

Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone C of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it is undaunted despite facing a fierce battle with dare devil smugglers after it made 32 seizures with Duty Paid Value of over N814m in September, the highest so far this year 2015.

The Unit also arrested 24 suspects in connection with the seizures with 21 cases in Courts for the month of September alone. It also made underpayment recovery of N26,272,009 into government coffers in September.

Nigeria Customs Service

Criminal cartels must fight back as the Unit continues to interdict, seize prohibited and smuggled goods as well as arrest suspects involved in the acts. This is why the recent allegations against the Unit by the Campaign for Democracy were attributed to desperate smugglers using blackmail due to loss of goods to seizures.

“Owing to unrelenting onslaught against smuggling, duty evasion and other illegalities being fought by Federal Operations Unit, Zone C,  smugglers of fake drugs may have commenced a campaign of falsehood against our unit, said Ifeoma Ojekwu, public relations officer, FOU, Zone ‘C’ Owerri.

She added that, “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.”

She said since the smugglers have remained daring: “Our seizure profile has been on the increase with arrests and prosecutions of suspects.

“For The Campaign for Democracy to have alleged compromise against our unit in a national publication at a time we should be commended for raising the anti-smuggling tempo is not only unpatriotic but makes their activities suspicious as they have shown sympathy with economic saboteurs.”

Federal Operations Unit implements government’s extant laws as enshrined in the Customs Excise Management Act (CEMA) and other enabling legislation. It encourages legitimate trade while frustrating unlawful imports and smuggling.

The Unit, according to Ojekwu, will never be open for any form of dialogue to compromise duty even as she challenged CD to visit its warehouse and show proof of any seizure wrongly made by presenting evidences of genuine duty payments.

“We also challenge them to show to the public, the shops where customs operatives stock or put for sale seized goods. On the allegations that our patrol teams demand bribes, the group may further avail us with patrol vehicle numbers and locations where bribes were allegedly given or taken.

The Customs Area Controller, Victor David Dimka will investigate and bring to book any erring officer.”