The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, has announced the seizure of various items, including 15,449 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), with a total Duty Paid Value of N13 million. The disclosure was made in an official statement posted on the NCS’s Twitter handle.
According to the statement, the Area Controller, Salisu Abdullahi, revealed the details during a press briefing held on November 17, 2023, at the command’s headquarters in Yola.
Among the seized items were 19 cartons of foreign insecticide and 26 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice. Due to the flammability of the PMS, the Comptroller stated that most of the product had been disposed of in accordance with existing laws, and the proceeds were remitted into the Federation Account.
The remaining fraction of the PMS on the ground is set to be auctioned after the briefing, according to Abdullahi. He noted that no smugglers were apprehended during the operation as they all managed to escape. Nevertheless, he affirmed the commitment to crack down on smugglers, emphasizing that the nation cannot afford to let saboteurs undermine the economy.
The Comptroller called on Nigerians, stakeholders, and relevant security agencies at the command’s frontiers to continue collaborating with Customs in the ongoing battle against smuggling.