Expdonaloaded News; Smugglers fret as customs bare fangs in Kaduna, Katsina

International borders in Kaduna –Katsina States Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service are currently witnessing  intense surveillance by the officers and men of the Command, a development that has left ignoble importers with little or no window.
While the Command is singing to the bank, illicit drug traffickers have been cut off from the strategic Katsina State – Niger Republic corridor, just as smugglers are in trouble.

The Command in its gains against some importers last week said it recoded about N274 million duties paid by the businessmen. This explains why the Customs Operatives have not been sleeping, or better still, are sleeping with one eye open.
It was a busy day in the Command on Friday, June 26. Shortly after Juma’at prayers on the that day, by 3 pm, newsmen and security operatives started streaming into the Headquarters of the Area Command in Katsina, the Katsina State capital.
Then, suddenly the Customs top brass from Abuja and Federal Operation Unit (F.O.U) arrived, and it was time to hit Magama-Jibia border station, where an on- the- spot inspection and assessment were eventually held.
A modest station it was, reporters in the region of dozen who filed into the area with  expectant hearts, acknowledged. Some men and youth in the adjoining communities in Nigeria and Niger soon took up every space by the stopped huge haulage trucks.
Gradually, the excitement hit new levels as the heavily loaded trailers coming into Nigeria were being stripped open for the examination by the team comprising the present Area Controller, Comptroller Maitama Kura; the in-coming Area Controller, Comptroller Baba Gidado; the Deputy Comptroller in charge of F.O.U in the Command; the State Director, Directorate of State Security (DSS); the Divisional Police Officer (DPO in Jibia), who stood in for the Commissioner of Police; the representatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service and Port Quarantine Service among others.

Click photo to download; but you lied to me by Expdona aka finish gravity

Expdonaloaded blog;Click the photo to download aboki wey d suya by Expdona aka finish gravity

About 240 huge trucks that were the target of the stop and search exercise had paid about N274 million to government coffers before hitting the road to Nigeria, the Area Controller confirmed.
Comptroller Kura, who revealed the secret behind the team’s operation to reporters at Magama-Jibia, regretted that the rumour until recently was that the Customs allowed importers to bring in goods that were not examined and relevant duties were not paid.
Kaura, who spoke after the documents pertaining to the transactions were cross checked against the contents of the affected trucks, expressed confidence that the exercise had dispelled any ugly rumour over their operations.
He said: “About 50 of the trucks are going into Nigeria for now, and we are going to make arrangement for the rest to move-in in piecemeal but in total, we have 240 trucks.”
He continued: “To say we are not doing our job or many things are coming in, as far as I am concerned, is not true and I can vouch for it. We have never witnessed arms being conveyed through this border. We have never witnessed any illicit thing being brought in from this border. Our officers are doing examination which is usually done jointly by all relevant agents that are here.”
The Comptroller recalled that drugs worth N300 million  intercepted at the Command were destroyed last November, adding that the Command was waiting for approval to destroy the recently seized drugs worth about N150 million.
And he asked rhetorically, “if we are not doing our job, how can we get that amount of drugs that were destroyed?”
He also cleared the insinuations that textiles are under prohibition saying duty is now paid on them.
“Once you can pay the duty on textiles and the 10 percent additional levy, you can import your textiles. We are on oath, we are protecting our country and all legitimate traders,” he assured.
On the state of the inspection bay at the border station, he disclosed that it had broken down for over a year now.
Hear him: “Many correspondences have been written to the service provider, Global System, to come and repair the bay but it has not. We cannot say until the scanners are repaired we will not do our job.
“We are facilitating trade and the government needs the revenue being shared by the Federal, State and Local Governments, particularly now that the nation is in dire need of revenue. So, we have to do our best and we are doing our best.”
Reacting to the development, one of the Security Operatives who spoke on the condition of anonymity commended the Customs officers and men for their doggedness in the face of what he called “daunting challenges.”
He urged them not to relent in their efforts to combat smugglers headlong and to rake in more revenue for the country.