The Katsina Area Command of the Nigeria customs service has seized smuggled goods with a duty-paid value of 77 million Naira in the months of September and October, 2022.
While parading the items at a newsmen at the customs office in Katsina, the command’s comptroller, Wada Cedi, said the command has also generated revenue worth 197.4 million Naira in the two months.
The seized items include 8 vehicles with a duty-paid value of 59 million Naira and general goods that include 302 bags of 50 kg rice, 361 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 40 cartons of foreign macaroni, and 37 bags if foreign flour.
Others include 10 sacks of second-hand clothing, 41 50 kg cylinders of cooking gas, 122 Jerry and if PMS and 40 Jerry and of diesel.
Comptroller Wada Cedi said customs operatives in the state will continue to maintain a no-compromise stance against smuggling which cripples agriculture, local industry, trade and the economy.
He described the recent row between customs officials and some groundnut and beans smugglers in Jibia and Dankama Local Government Areas as needless, and maintained that importers of agricultural goods must also pay duty on such goods.
“Our officials are very professional in carrying out their duty, they only impound goods that are either contraband or were smuggled though illegal points of the border.
“We do not compromise on smuggling, it cripples agriculture, local industry, trade and the economy, we operate under the law and whatever the law mandates us to to, we do it without compromise.
“This was why when when I took over as comptroller of the Katsina command I organized town hall meetings with border communities, trade unions, local importers and exporters, traditional rulers, community leaders and other stakeholders, we sensitized them on the provisions of the law as regards trans-border trade.
“We are conscious of the need to build a robust relationship with the communities, the communities themselves feed us with useful information to facilitate our operations.
“Our only appeal is for trans-border traders to be patriotic, they should pay their duties, the payment system is transparent, they don’t pay them to the customs, rather the pay through licensed customs agents directly into the Treasury Single Account.
“The present leadership of the Customs service under Col Hamid Ali, Rtd, has greatly sanitized the payment of duties and made it more transparent and efficient.”
The Katsina Command Area comptroller noted the 46 million Naira increase in revenue generation from the month of September to October which reflects the increased anti-smuggling operations of the command in the last month.
“By enforcing the ban on smuggling and blocking leakages and loopholes in the trans-border trade chain, we have more than doubled the revenue generated from this command.
“For instance, from 1st to 30th September, 2022, we generated N75,600,000 but by October we had increased it N121,478,000 through due payment of import duties on goods.”, Cedi said.
He disclosed that since the Jibia land border was opened in April this year, the command has generated 500 million Naira from custom duties which are being paid into the federal government’s Treasury Single Account, TSA.
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