The Kano Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said on Thursday it had collected about N38.8 billion as revenue from January to October.
Mr. Dauda Ibrahim Chana, Area Comptroller of the Command, comprising Kano and Jigawa, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano.
Chana said about N5.6 billion was collected in September due to aggressive and strict compliance by the area command.
Similarly, the command has seized prohibited items worth about N300 million in the last 20 months.
” We have seized 2,681 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 1,421 spaghetti, 419 bales of second-hand clothes, 250 gallons of vegetable oil of 25 litres each, 172 pieces of powdered milk and many others from January to date.
” We have also reached out to residents of Maigatari, Jeke and Babura border posts in Jigawa State to complement the efforts of our personnel manning the border posts with information that could aid in apprehending those involved in the illegal businesses.”
He said the command had already put in place various security measures that would ensure goods coming into its areas of jurisdiction paid duties.
“We will continue to enhance trade facilitation, revenue generation, and border security in line with the directives of the management of the Nigeria Customs Service.
” We have also partnered with traditional rulers in border communities to assist our personnel deployed with reliable information on the movement of smugglers,” he said.
The area comptroller said officers at the border areas had been briefed on how the partnership would assist them in arresting smugglers.
” We have positioned our officers at strategic locations to deal decisively with all those involved in sharp practises and illegal businesses,” he said.
” We have also deployed various strategies to enable us to get vital information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of smugglers,” he added.
According to him, the aim is to encourage Nigerians, especially those living in border communities, to offer intelligence reports that could aid the command in apprehending smugglers.
He expressed optimism that the involvement of border communities would greatly assist officers of the service in protecting the nation’s economy from the activities of saboteurs.
He added that all identified smugglers’ routes under the command had been placed under strict surveillance.
