With the recent re-opening of all land borders between Nigeria and its neighbours ,the Niger Republic ,the Kebbi/Sokoto Area Command of the Nigeria Custom Services has reiterated its commitment towards protecting the country’s national interests through combating of smuggling and other unwholesome activities.
This is just as the Comptroller Ernest Iheanacho Ojike has lauded the resilience, and courage of officers and men of the command in making the kebbi/ Niger border posts a no go area for unscrupulous business actors and smugglers .
Ojike who spoke at a press briefing in the Kebbi state capital Birni kebbi on Friday ‘April 19 2024 said within the last 2 months ,the Command recorded tremendous successes in its anti smuggling fights, with the seizure of contraband items valued at over N126 million.
According to him ,some of the items seized include,thousands of litres of premium motor spirit ( petrol) ,bags of foreign rice ,several bales of used clothings ,hard and expired drugs and essential commodities .
However ,the Comptroller noted that owing to the re opening of the Kamba border in kebbi ,the command could not make much impact in revenue generation during the period under review ,as it was only able rake in N7 million ..
While handing over the seized hard and expired drugs to officials of the National Agency For Drugs Administration And Control NAFDAC and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA who were part of the media briefing.,Comptroller Ojike ,lauded the cordial working relationship that is existing between other sister security agencies and the Kebbi/Sokoto Customs Area Command .
In his remarks,the coordinator of Kebbi/ Sokoto zone of NAFDAC, Alhaji Muyideen Suleiman while appreciating the Customs Command for its collaborative efforts, assured that the seized drugs and other items will be handled in line with extant laws
