Customs In Turmoil Over 90,000 Bags Of Rice Smuggled Into The Country On Tuesday; NSA On Alert

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has been accused of aiding the smuggling of 1,500 cars loaded with many bags of rice into the country. That’s equivalent to  4,500,000kg of rice, according to analysts who spoke on the issue, saying it’s a huge quantity of items to be smuggled into the country in one fell swoop.

They have therefore called on the National Security Adviser, NSA, to wade into the matter to ensure that it’s thoroughly investigated and not swept under the carpet.

“Apart from the security implications for the country- because the quantity is very high-what it also means is that anything could have been smuggled inside those cars, including dangerous arms and ammunition. This is not a matter of food security alone, it also borders on the security of life and property because criminals can do anything with what they have in their possession,’ a security analyst, Josiah Adams said on Thursday.

“To start with, the CG and the top management of the Service should be queried for allowing officers with questionable characters to man our bothers. Don’t they know that the safety of lives and property  of Nigerians depends largely on them?” he said.

Recall that security experts have recently raised alarm over the dangerous arms being brought into the country through the Sahel by some criminal gangs and terrorists.

Such arms are now being smuggled into the country under the guise of food items smuggling, according to some people who are familiar with the issue.

Investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo made the allegation on Thursday.  Rice importation through the land borders is illegal in Nigeria, and the NCS is expected to ensure that smugglers are prevented from bringing in the item because it’s regarded as a contraband.

Soyombo, an award wining journalist have become prominent for exposing corruption in key government agencies in the country.

According to a message posted on his X handle, and addressed to the Adewale Adeniyi-led NCS, the journalist said the car loads of rice were smuggled into the country on Tuesday night, despite his earlier warning to the custom that such plan was in the offing few hours before the operation took place.

He said he notified the NCS, last week, that a notorious smuggler, Adeyemi Habeeb Abdulganiy,  better known as ‘Abuga working with some men of the Service had plotted to smuggle many bags of rice into the country through the Idi Iroko, Sango and Owode in Ogun state.

“At exactly 10:01pm on Tuesday, I tweeted that 1,500 cars containing rice were being moved from Idi-Iroko into Sango and Owode by Adeyemi Habeeb Abdulganiy, the smuggler better known as ‘Abuga’, aided by nobody else other than your men,” he alleged.

He added, “That was a minimum of 4,500,000kg of rice into the country through the backdoor.”

According to him, some officials of the service including one Najeem Akorede aka Najeem Custom are working in “cahoots with ‘Abuga’ to bring contraband into the country, saying they leak secret information that could have led to arrest to smugglers from time to time.

For instance, he claimed that his information to the NSC that Abuga was planning to smuggle rice through Ogun state was leaked to him, prompting him to defer the act, that was eventually carried out on Tuesday night.

He said, “Within an hour of that tweet, your men in Idi-Iroko received a phone call from Abuja to suspend the thievery. Hundreds of rice cars had already crossed the border by then, the rest forced to make an abrupt about-face.

“I am aware that Najeem Akorede, your man popularly called ‘Najeem Custom’, finally passed the remaining thousand rice cars last night, working in cahoots with ‘Abuga’.

He said rice smuggling business is a huge crime ring with some men of the NCS in tow, contrary to the oath they swore to prevent illegal goods from entering the country.

He stressed, “In March, when I addressed how Customs officers were the biggest hoteliers in border areas, I spotlighted Rao International Hotel and Suites, located along the Idi-Iroko smuggling route, specifically Km 15 Sango-Idi-Iroko Road, owned by ‘Najeem Custom’, equating it to policemen establishing hotels along notorious armed robbery routes!

“This is what has become of the Customs service, a government instrument for enriching a corrupt minority at the expense of public good.”

Meanwhile, key analysts are calling on  Adeniyi, the Comptroller General of Customs, NCS, to look into the constant allegations that his men are aiding the smuggle of contrabands into the country, particularly through the land borders.

It will be be wrong for the Customs boss to just wave the allegations aside as the ranting of the critics of the Service, security analysts insist, saying he must act to restore the credibility of the over 100 years old Service.

The NSC has yet to respond to the allegation as at the time of publishing this report.