The Seme-Krake Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has declared realizing a total sum of One Billion Nine Hundred and Four Million, Four Hundred and Fifty-Nine Thousand, Three Hundred and Ninety Naira, Seventy Seven Kobo (N1,904,459, 390.77) out of its revenue target of One Billion Nine Hundred and Sixty Million Naira for the year 2023.
While declaring this huge achievement at Seme Border on Friday, September 8, 2023, the Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Dera Nnadi disclosed that this notable impacts made by the Command in its key performance indicators which are revenue collection and anti-smuggling operations represents 97.2% of N1,960,000,000 allotted target for the year 2023.
In his words, “The implication is that the Commands revenue profile witnessed a tremendous increase of N1, 018,916, 292. 33 which is 51.98%, this was a result of painstaking efforts made by the leadership of the Command in partnership with our stakeholders to ensure compliance with our revenue generation agenda.
“In the area of anti-smuggling operation, you are already conversant with our past headline seizures which is fake six million US dollars equivalent to two billion seven hundred million (N2.7 B) Naira). This is in addition to other notable seizures recorded between January and August 2023”.
Among the seized items declared by Comptroller Nnadi included Six Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty Nine (9500) 50kg bags of rice equivalent to sixteen (16) trailer loads of foreign parboiled rice with Duty Paid Value of N312, 242, 064.93. 13, 835 x 30 liters Jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit equivalent to 415, 050 liters or 13 petroleum tankers with Duty Paid Value of 738,276, 461, 15,389 of General Merchandise Goods.
Hard Drugs and Narcotics seized are 41 parcels of Cannabis Sativa 4,900 Tablets 225mg of Tramadol Tamol-X, 3,600 Tablets 225mg Tramadol Royal 225, 157 Tablets of Heineken Ecstacy 864 Packs of Cigarette among others.
“In the same vein, officers and men of the Command acting on credible intelligence intercepted One Thousand Three Hundred and Sixty Four (1,364) 30 Liters Jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit equivalent to forty thousand eight hundred (40,800) litres over one Tanker Load and with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of (N24, 663, 355) only at the early hours of Friday 8th September, 2023 along the Badagry Coast.
“The duty paid value for items seized for the period January to 8th Septmeber 2023 is One Billion, Eight Hundred and Twenty Seven Million, Three Hundred and Sixty Two Thousand, Six Hundred and Nineteen Naira (1, 827, 362, 619. 00).
“In addition to the above, in line with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) dictate of encouraging its personnels, the Officers and Men of the Command that were involved in the seizures of fake Six million USD ($6,000,000) currency, Fifteen (15) fake international passports and Ten (10) Driver’s license, and that of Donkey skins in January, 2023 have been commended by the Ag. Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi” he concluded.
The commendation letters and congratulatory letters from the Command was later presented to the beneficiaries and gallant officers at the Conference Room of the Command in reward for their selfless service to the country.
Seme Area Command advantageously lies on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor (ALCO) which connects Lagos-Cotonou-Lomé-Accra-Abidjan. With a population of over 350 million people, this corridor and indeed the Command accounts for about 70 per cent of the transit traffic in the ECOWAS sub-region.
The route is also a component of the Lagos-Kano-Jibiya (LAKAJI) corridor which extends from Lagos through Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Kastina states in Nigeria. The LAKAJI corridor compliments the trade route from Abidjan through Cotonou to Niamey and even to Libya and Egypt. The significant of this corridor as an economic, cultural and political platform for regional integration of West Africa cannot be over emphasized.
By Ajibola Adedoye