The Nigeria Customs Service, Seme Border Area Command says it has cleared 4,438 trucks of goods since the reopening of land borders by the Federal Government on December,16 last year.
The Customs Public Relations Officer of the command,Mr.Abdulahi Hussain,who disclosed this in a statement in Seme, Lagos on Saturday, said of the 4,438 trucks, the command processed 1,059 trucks which were ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) while 2487 trucks were Exports.
Hussiain said the Seme Customs Area Comptroller, Mr Bello Jibo said the command had intercepted contraband with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N409.8 million since the reopening of the border.
Jibo said the banned substances, smuggled into Nigeria through the Seme border included, 232 wraps of cannabis sativa, 98 used vehicles, 5,568 bags of rice and two sacks of condom.
The controller said the contraband were smuggled in the period from December 17 when the Federal Government announced the reopening of four land borders to date.
He added:“The attention of the command has been drawn to a misleading narrative in some quarters of the public that the Seme-Krake border has not been fully reopened, thereby limiting a seamless inflow and outflow of legitimate goods.It is pertinent to state that since the reopening of some land borders by the Federal Government on Dec. 16, 2020 with Seme Border command being among the four borders reopened, its operations has since been sustained on a full scale.
“Although some initial hitches were encountered by our Nigerian importers concerning high charges of fees and levies imposed on the Nigeria bound goods before entry”.
Jibo disclosed that the command made pragmatic moves toward cementing a synergy and cooperation with the host community and other security agencies including the Republic of Benin security agencies operating at the joint border post.
He said the command made a revenue of N431. 1 million while the sun of N409.8 million was realised as DPV from seizures during the period of January to date.
He explained that the achievements are indications that the border is not only open, but fully operational since the re-opening of the four land borders by the Federal Government.
“To this end, the command urges the general public to disregard such false information as it was just an imagination of the perpetrators, mischievously aimed at casting doubts in the minds of Nigerians engage in their legitimate businesses at the border.
“The command will continue to actualise sustainable campaign and provision of necessary instruments with a view to facilitating legitimate businesses in line with extant government fiscal policies,” he said.
