Nigeria Customs Seizes 13 Smuggled Cars from Senator

Matilda Omonaiye/

Here is another reason for Nigerian senators to be angry with Hameed Ali, a retired colonel heading the Nigerian Customs Service as Comptroller-General.

The Compliance Task Force that Ali set up has just impounded 223 vehicles,  13 of which belong to a senator in Kano State, says the Task Force’s Zonal Commander, Mr Bala Dole, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano today.

He said the vehicles, belonging to the unidentified senator were 12 new Toyota Hilux and one Land Cruiser Jeep.

Dole, who declined to name the Senator, said the 13 vehicles were trailed from Maigatari in Jigawa, following an intelligence report, indicating they were smuggled into Nigeria via land borders.

He said, “Based on the intelligence report, the vehicles were 30 in number but we were able to trail 13 of them 12 of which were hidden in the senator’s compound.

“We sealed the house and retrieved the vehicles and they are now in our custody.”

The identity of the senator will remain a guessing game for now.

There are three senators representing Kano State.

They are Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Kano Central; Barau Jibrin, Kano North and Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, Kano South. All are representing the All Progressives Congress.

The task force also said that it seized other items, including foodstuffs worth N269.5 million in Kano and Jigawa states within eight months.

The items included 9,757 bags of rice; 2,916 of foreign spaghetti; 2,770 cartons of foreign vegetable oil and 999 cartons of macaroni.

Also on the list were: 889 veils of second hand clothes, 50 used school bags, 110 cartons of new foreign shoes, 956 bags of mosquito coil and six fairly used cars.

Dole added, “The total value of the seizure made by the task force since it was established in July 2016, excluding the 13 Senator’s vehicles, is N269.5 million.

“We are yet to determine the cost of the 13 vehicles belonging to the Senator.“