By Odafe Bosa/
Marijuana worth over N8million has allegedly been seized from a dismissed Nigerian customs officer.
Newsmakersng learnt from the Area Controller of Customs, Mr Mohammed Aliyu that the new strategy of Operation Zero Smuggling, introduced by the Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, led to the suspect’s arrest and the seizure of about 400kg of Indian hemp with street value of over N8million.
While handing over the dismissed officer, and the 400kg of tested Cannabis Sativa (Marijuana) to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Aliyu said that a lot of strategies had been adopted by the command to ensure that the busiest land border would be a “no go” area for trans-border miscreants and traffickers.
He explained that all necessary conditions were explored in line with the public service rule and the Customs and Excise Preventive Service Regulation before the officer was relieved of his appointment.
The Controller added that the punitive measures for gross misconduct of unruly behaviour meted on the dismissed officer was to serve as a deterrent to other bad eggs in the service that might choose to be recalcitrant.
Aliyu frowned at what he called ‘the alarming and disturbing rate at which illicit substances are being intercepted by officers and men of the command in an attempt to be smuggled through the waterways and land borders.
He insisted that the leadership of the service would not shy away in purging self from all unscrupulous elements that delight in dragging the image of the service in the mud.
“The Command will continue to protect the nation’s territorial integrity through the scanning of all imports and aggressive anti-smuggling operations of all illegal routes,” he said.
Aliyu sought for the cooperation of all the stakeholders and the host communities, including community chiefs, youth and opinion leaders, bankers and Licensed Agents for effective enforcement of Federal Government policies.
He spoke about the need for inter-agency collaboration for effective border management, intelligence sharing and strict compliance with the ECOWAS Protocol along the Lagos-Abidjan Corridor. He said that this would facilitate legitimate trade and enhance business.
Newsmakersng learnt that the command generated N317, 809, 119.63 as revenue for the month of May 2017.
The anti-smuggling unit of the command also made a total of 28 seizures with a duty paid value of N30, 008, 388 for the period under review.
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