The Nigeria Customs Service, Seme Border Area Command, has disclosed that since the reopening of land borders by the Federal Government on December 16, 2020, the service has cleared 4,438 trucks with various goods.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Public relations officer of the command, Abdulahi Hussiain, over the weekend in Seme.
Hussiain noted that out of the 4,438 trucks, the command processed 1,059 trucks under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS), while 2,487 trucks were exports.
“For import and baggage, 179 trucks and 713 trucks were captured, making 4,438 trucks of goods altogether,” he said.
He quoted the Seme Customs Area Comptroller, Bello Jibo, as stating that the command seized contraband with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N409.8 million since the reopening of the border.
Jibo identified the seized banned substances to include 232 wraps of cannabis Sativa, 98 used vehicles, 5,568 bags of rice, and two sacks of condoms.
The banned items were smuggled from Dec. 17, 2020 when the ban was lifted by the federal government.
READ ALSO: Imo Security Operatives Repel Attack At Police HQ
“The attention of the command has been drawn to a misleading narrative in some quarters of the public that the Seme-Krake border has not been fully reopened, thereby limiting seamless inflow and outflow of legitimate goods.
“It is pertinent to state that since the reopening of some land borders by the Federal Government on Dec. 16, 2020, with Seme Border command being among the four borders reopened, its operation has since been sustained on a full scale.
“Although some initial hitches were encountered by our Nigerian importers concerning high charges of fees and levies imposed on the Nigeria bound goods before entry,” he said.
Jibo said the command made pragmatic moves toward synergy with security agencies, including the Republic of Benin security agencies operating at the joint border post.
He said the command made revenue of N431.1 million while the sum of N409.8 million was realised as DPV from seizures from January to date.
