The Joint Border Patrol Operations Sector 2, of the South West Zone, has again made spectacular Seizures between the 1st to 28th of February 2023.
Showcasing the seizures to newsmen at Government Warehouse, Nigeria Customs Service Seme Area Command. The Coordinator of the JBPT, Comptroller Nura Hassan said, within the period under review, the JBPT has deposited in various Government Warehouses (GWH) within the Area of Responsibilities (AOR), Two thousand, Six hundred and Ninety – six (2,696) plastic kegs of 30 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol);
Three Thousand, Six hundred and four (3,604) bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice with Twenty (20) means of conveyance.
Other seized items included Four hundred and ninety – seven (497) parcels of Cannabis Sativa valued at about Twenty Seven Million, Three Hundred and Thirty – Five Thousand Naira (N27,335.000) only. And have been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
The JBPT Coordinator stressed that all seizures of various smuggled goods and means of carriages and conveyances for February 2023 were about Six Thousand, Eight Hundred and Nineteen (6819) items with a Duty Paid Value of *One hundred and Seventy-Six Million, Four Hundred and Three Thousand (#176,403,000) only.*
“We are linked up with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, we shall hand over a list of defaulters to them in other for sanction to be applied appropriately.”
“So far, we are handing over four filling stations to them. NMDPRA is saddled with the responsibility of sanctioning, particularly defaulters connected with illegal bunkering. Their investigation will determine the outcome of the prosecution.” The coordinator revealed.
Further speaking, Hassan stated that from 2019 till date, the Team has made overwhelming seizures of Petroleum products which include, 485,000,000 litres of PMS, a tanker truck loaded with Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), a container truck loaded with kerosene, 32,076 Kegs x 30 litres of PMS each, 1,757 drums x 200 litres of PMS and 280, 050 litres of PMS which were evacuated from various filling stations involved in illegal bunkering activities.
However, due to the inflammatory nature of the product, they have been auctioned to the members of the Public at a cumulative amount of *Six Hundred Million, One Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fourteen Naira, Twelve kobo(N600,175,814.12k).*
“Smuggling of petroleum products is a grievous offence against the Nation’s economy. Nigeria as a State subsidises this product and how do you allow this illegal export into another man’s country, which means you are using your nation’s resources to subsidise a product, that you don’t even consume.” He emphasised.
Similarly, Comptroller Hassan in a working visit met with the Customs Area Controller of Seme Command, Comptroller Nera Nnadi, and the Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Douglas Tanko Audu to further cement the existing synergy in securing the Borders.