The Nigeria Customs Service, Adamawa/Taraba Command, has seized Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N58,117,550, alongside a truck loaded with petrol and consignments of second-hand clothing intended to be smuggled through border areas of Adamawa and Taraba states.
The Controller General of the service, represented by the Area Controller of the Adamawa/Taraba Command, Muhammed Aminu Mako, disclosed this yesterday during a briefing on the command’s anti-smuggling operations at the Customs House in Yola.
Mako said the seizures, made within four weeks, comprised 1,868 jerry cans of 25 and 30 litres, a drum containing about 50,495 litres of PMS, as well as 10 bales and two sacks of second-hand clothing. He said the items were intercepted at different border locations in Adamawa and Taraba while officers were carrying out their statutory duties to curb smuggling and protect the Nigerian economy. He noted that the operations were conducted under the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.
“All these seizures were effected in line with the provisions of sections 150, 245 and 246 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, which empowers the service to prevent the illegal exportation of PMS out of the country,” he said.
Mako explained that Section 245 grants officers the powers to detain, seize and condemn smuggled goods, while Section 246 deals with the forfeiture of smuggled items, including petroleum products moved contrary to existing laws.
The area controller issued what he described as a “final warning” to smugglers and their collaborators to desist from illegal activities, saying the service had intensified intelligence-led operations across all routes and border communities.
He said anyone found engaging in smuggling would face the full weight of the law. Mako also commended sister security agencies for their collaboration with the Customs Service in mitigating the illegal exportation of petroleum products and other Nigerian goods, adding that the command would continue its anti-smuggling drive to protect the economy. He added that the seized PMS would be auctioned to Nigerians.
