By Steve Agbota
The Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) Sector 2, South West Zone, Lagos of the Nigeria Customs Service on Wednesday said that it arrested about 156 illegal suspects for illegal immigrants and intercepted hard drugs, petrol, rice, and other contraband worth N1.381 billion in the South West region.
The Coordinator of the team, Mohammed Shuaibu, a Deputy Controller of Customs, disclosed this while addressing newsman in Lagos, said the team arrested suspected 109 male immigrants and suspected 47 female immigrants.
Giving the breakdown, he said the team intercepted said within the period under review, a total of 125 persons were refused entry, 11 persons were refused departure, 109 suspected male immigrants, and 47 female immigrants, 18 trafficking in person and two suspected trafficking agents who violated immigration laws.
According to him, the suspected immigrants were immediately handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service for further investigation and prosecution where necessary.
However, he said that he team intercepted 4, 019 jerrycans of PMS, 2.633 bags of foreign rice, 868 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 790 bottles of codeine syrup, 338 sacks of artificial razing, 154 blocks of cannabis sativa, 135 sacks of used footwear, 77 sacks of ginger, 45 bags of calcium propionate worth over N1.381 billion.
He hinted that the team also recovered a total of N26.131million revenue through the issuance of Debit Notes (DN) on vehicles and other goods were underpaid, adding that within the period under review, the sum of N31.3 million was obtained as an auction value.
He affirmed that JBPT Sector 2 is not relenting in its efforts of combating smuggling activities and illegal migrants that are undermining our national security.
“While the federal government is committed to ensuring the availability of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to the citizenry. It is disheartening to know that some notorious smugglers are bent on smuggling the products to the neighboring countries for their selfish gain. These groups of unpatriotic citizens will have us to contend with, as the Sector has deployed intelligence to apprehend offenders.
“The sector is fully prepared to face the challenge ahead as we are into the last quarter of the year 2024, we are enhancing our collaboration and the use of intelligence to contend with the possibility of more desperation from the smugglers. We are taking more proactive measures by confronting them with increased vigor in line with the CGC’s marching order, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi,” he said.
Meanwhile he urged the smugglers to shun smuggling and avoid being lured into crimes with aim to making easy wealth, while calling on all stakeholders such as traditional rulers, religious bodies and youth leaders to sensitize their subjects against smuggling activities which destroy the nation’s economy, undermined the nation security and transfer employment to other nations.
