Daily Independent Online.
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Friday, June 11, 2004.
Customs destroys N253m contraband at Seme border
By Dan Alo
Correspondent,
Lagos
Smugglers suffered another major setback
when the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Thursday destroyed seized contraband
valued at more than N253 million at the Seme border - gateway into Benin
Republic.
The seized items include poultry feeds,
lace fabrics and used tyres imported from Europe.
The NCS Area Comptroller for Seme border,
Alhaji Tahir Musa, said, “Many of the smugglers who have found the
airports and the seaports impregnable have now resorted to channelling their
illegal activities through the land border, especially Seme, because of its
proximity to Lagos.”
According to him, customs officers at Seme
intensified their patrol along the border and also blocked all the illegal
routes through which contraband are smuggled into the country.
He added, “The officers of the
Nigeria Customs are constantly being re-trained in order for them to be abreast
with the sophistication introduced to smuggling by smugglers.”
Tahir also noted that the joint patrol team
of the Beninoise gendarme and his men have been a hindrance to smugglers on the
Seme border route, adding that some of those arrested for smuggling are
Beninoise claiming ignorance of banned items in Nigeria.
He also advised individuals and corporate organisations
wishing to engage in trans-border transactions to familiarise themselves
with the laws of the countries they are dealing with so as not to run foul of
importation procedures.
