Anti- Smuggling Fight: Health and Well Being Of Nigerians Our Driving Force.Sc Ashinze

Anti- Smuggling Fight: Health and Well Being Of Nigerians Our Driving Force.Sc Ashinze

Ag.CG of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi

By Frank Odinukaeze

Comptroller Dera Nnadi’s determination and resolve to make Seme border unattractive for smugglers and ensure blockage of revenue leakages ,since taking up the headship of the  Command,in January ,2023, has continued to yield dividends,culminating in the massive seizures of smuggled items ,on the 8th  of September,2023.

Briefing newsmen on the activities of his command penultimate Friday,Nnadi said , ” Upon my assumption of duty on the 23 of January, 2023, I pledged to adopt new strategies to boost trade while enforcing the nation’s anti-smuggling laws along the Abidjan Lagos Corridor (ALCO) in line with the ECOWAS protocols on free movement of goods and persons.

Compt.Nnadi showing sample of tramadol variant seized.

Compt.Dera Nnadi displaying one of the seized illicit drug

” I also promised along with officers and men to encourage compliant traders along the corridor bearing in mind the challenges of the Joint Border Patrol( JBP ) as one that is still recovering from the effects of the border closure.”

It is these strategic measures,collaborations and high intelligence network coupled  with committed and hard working personnel that have enabled the command to almost achieve its total revenue target for 2023 .The   Seme Border Command  collected the sum of N1,904,459,390.77 revenue between January 23 and September 8, 2023, which represents 97.2% of N1,960,000,000 allotted target for the year.

Seized gallons of PMS

This shows an increase of 51.98% from the N885,543,098.11 made in the corresponding period for 2022.
This laudable achievement, Comptroller Nnadi noted ,
” 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  (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 and listed below:
“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, 064.93k.
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, 461k.
15,389 of General Merchandise Goods.
Hard Drugs and Narcotics:

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
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

Display of canabis sativa seized by Seme Command

Compt.Dera Nnadi displaying seized items

” 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 Niara (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 MFR, dsm, fnipr, psc (+).
One of the 18 recipients of the commendation and congratulatory letters from the CGC  and the Seme  command  is Superintendent of Customs,Emeka David Ashinze .
In an interview with Ashinze , who is the team leader  and who  also doubles as the OC  operations of the Command and  who led the  Team that intercepted the 4, 800 liters of PMS , said they were being driven by the love for the father land and the desire for the  well being and health of Nigerians
He said the CGC commendation has further boosted their moral to even do more,knowing that their little effort does not go unnoticed .

Compt.Nnadi Briefing newsmen on the seizures

” I  am encouraged.My moral is high. I feel very honoured that the CGC could give us this kind of recognition in our lifetime. This will further encourage us to keep performing, doing greater things for the Service,” he said.

Ashinze however noted that the job of ant-smuggling fight   has not been easy.
“We’re still learning on the job, sometimes we make mistakes and get corrected by our superiors and then we challenge ourselves to keep doing better.”he said.

A cross section of recipients of CGC commendation letter

On the risk assessment of their day to day operation and what has been their motivating factor, knowing full well that some of their peers in some other Units and Commands are either killed or maimed in the line of service to the NCS, SC Ashinze said, “Yes, it’s not that sometimes we don’t get scared but the bottom line is service to one’s father land and understanding that Smuggling activities if not checked would one day affect my own children, so it’s me fighting not only for my country but for myself too. So it drives me, it makes me feel that if I contribute my own quota and every other person does, Nigeria will be a better place for us all. Sometimes we get scared but the motivating factor is that we are doing it for Nigeria,”

SC Emeka David Ashinze ,one of the recipients of the CGC commendation letter

He noted that the job is not without its  challenges and temptations adding that” Sometimes smugglers when caught in the act try to play smart so as to be let off the hook, by  offering mouthwatering offers, trying to lure and distract you, especially in monetary terms but we are resolute, we are determined, I mean, this is one of such, only God knows where this will take us to. When you know that people are watching us and the rewarder is also there, it encourages us,”