Oyo/Osun Custom Command generates N11.9billion in 10months – Acting Area Comptroller. By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.

Oyo/Osun Custom Command generates N11.9billion in 10months – Acting Area Comptroller.
By;  Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
The Acting Customs Area Comptroller for Oyo/Osun Command of the Nigeria Customs and Excise, Mr. Abdulsalam Hassan yesterday said the command had generated N11.9 billion between January and October this year.
Mr. Hassan dropped this hint during a press briefing held at the Commands Headquarter in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
According to the Acting Customs Area Comptroller, within this period, a total of 154 seizures were made with the duty paid value estimated at N377.7million.
Speaking further, he said three suspected smugglers identified as Nurudeen, Kehinde and Saidi were nabbed by the men of the Command for concealing “scores of  bags of rice under live cattle and planks” in three  DAF trucks and a Mercedes truck marked SH 81 XA, APP 529 XD, LSR 856 XG and FST 96 XR respectively.
He declared that “one of the trucks was intercepted on the Iseyin-Ibadan road early this month loading 393 (50kg) bags of rice and seven loose bags concealed with tubers of yam.
“On November 6, 2015, 400 (50kg) bags of rice were also impounded on the Saki-Ago Are Road. Another truck registered as LSR 856 XG was impounded on the Saki- Iseyin Road loaded with bags of rice and concealed with planks. The driver and the passenger are at large.
“The third truck was traced by the Command from the Ilesa -Baruba axis and was impounded on the Saki-Oyo Road”, he said.
Mr Hassan stressed that the third truck “was loaded with rice and concealed with live cattle” adding that “the number of the bags is yet to be ascertained.”
The Acting Comptroller added that rice importers have leveraged on the removal and restriction on the collection of duty on rice importation as announced by the new Comptroller General of Customs, saying, “patriotic rice importers have leveraged on this to boost their business while recalcitrant, deceitfully devise other concealment patterns to continue in their unpatriotic deals”.
He warned that “however the eagle -eyes of the Nigeria Customs Service officers and superior intelligence will continue to cause them nightmares and eventually put them out of business”.