Goods, including 212 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice, worth over N126m, have been intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service, Kebbi State Area Command.

The goods according to the Customs Area Comptroller, Iheanacho Ojike, included 10,025 litres of petrol worth over N2m.

Iheanacho said, “Barely two months since I took over, the command has intensified the fight against smuggling to curb its menace by engaging in intense patrols throughout the nooks and crannies of Kebbi. We make use of intelligence to enhance our operations, and we also engage in sensitising the host communities to the dangers of smuggling.”

He said smuggling was injurious to the economy as well as the well-being of the citizens, adding that measures taken to address the problem led to the seizure of the items.

He said the items also included “28 bags weighing 25kg each, 200 bales of second-hand clothing (jumbo size) and 50 bales of normal size and 10,025 litres of premium motor spirit”.

Others were “39 lumps of Indian hemp (cannabis sativa), 78 rolls of Diclofenac Sodium, 300 wraps of diazepam tablets 5mg each, 57 packs of sex enhancement drug (black diamond), 150 expired powdered milk, 50 pieces of used tyres and 20 pieces of rims, 20 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 20 bags of foreign sugar and 10 jerry cans of vegetable oils”.

“The combined duty paid value of the seized items is N126,278,959.60. The PMS value is not included in the DPV because it is given in our revenue generation section as receipts from auction sales. This remarkable achievement was a result of the resilience and courageous effort of our Operations teams, Intelligence Unit, Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) and collaboration with sister agencies,” he said.

Ojike said the Indian hemp would be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

Speaking on revenue generation in the command, the comptroller said it was stalled in recent times due to the border closure between Nigeria, Benin Republic and Niger Republic.

“Even with this challenge, the command managed to generate N7,215,500 in the two months under review, which is a 125 per cent increase compared to the two previous months,” he added.