The Nigeria Customs Service Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) North Central Zone, Sector 3 Ilorin, Kwara State has made a total of Eighty (82) seizures of different items from April 2021, to date.
The Coordinator Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) North Central Zone, Sector 3 comprising of four North Central States of Kwara, Kogi, Niger and Benue States, Comptroller Olugboyega Peters stated this on Wednesday while speaking with newsmen in Ilorin the Kwara state capital North Central Nigeria.
According to him, as part of efforts by the Federal Government to curb the smuggling of petroleum products, the Nigeria Customs Service in collaboration with Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) recently approved the reactivation of Operation White Hilux Team, designed to control the smuggling of petroleum products across the border.
The seizures include-
- 650 Sacks of 60liters each of Diesel (39,000 liters)
- 1,735 Bags of foreign parboiled Rice of 50Kg each
- 1,415 Jeri cans of 25 liters of Petroleum Products each (36,525 liters)
- 33 Used Vehicles
- 12 Bales of worn clothing
- 10 Motorcycles, With the total Duty Paid Value DPV of N92, 547,752.00
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He confirmed that the team had commenced operations while the Joint Border Patrol team sector 3 is collaborating with the team and such collaboration is already yielding positive results.
” It might interest you to know that, from the record made available by NNPC/DPR only 13 petrol tankers were granted approval to load petroleum product every week to border communities, to prevent excess product being smuggled out” he added.
According to him, such actions put in place including but not limited to–:
- No petrol station is allowed to operate at night.
- Any major supply through approved routes is monitored through the strengthening of checkpoints manned by our officers
- Enforcement is mapped out and thoroughly monitored by a team of officers comprising of Customs, ONSA, NIA, Police, DSS, Immigration and other sister agencies involved in this assignment and a detailed inventory of each petroleum product is always taken such as Number plate, Driver’s Name, point of destination and coupled with other relevant documents”
Comptroller Peters, however, warned criminal elements operating in the Sector that any method, scheme, or tactics used shall be uncovered by the service and make arrest and prosecute such perpetrators.
The Custom’s Boss added that the streamlined measures, professional skills, uncommon courage and tactical operational strategies adopted by the service had yielded positive results which had led to the seizures.
The Comptroller disclosed that the Sector under his watch will continue to be at the forefront of anti-smuggling activities and will not relent on its oars to make the smuggling activities unattractive to the teeming youth while maintaining the high standard and professionalism in performing duties to the service and to the nation at large.
He, therefore advised Community Leaders, Youth leaders, Opinion moulders to shun smuggling for the better of our dear country Nigeria.
Nnenna.O
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