Intensifying war against smuggling in S’East, S’South

They come with unparalleled ingenuity on daily basis to beat the law. Expensive spirits are packaged in spare tyre and unimaginable corners in cars and trucks to beat the Nigeria Customs. Indeed, you never know with smugglers in the country.

Their business is profitable, yet with attendant risks. They are emboldened by the porous nature of the borders and the capacity of security agents who ought to curb their excesses, while whistle blowers such as journalist are reined in by attacks to deter would-be whistle blowers in the country. They bring in contrabands and give them spurious labels to beat security agents at the ports and land borders at will.

As Nigeria battles with security issues on many fronts, one cankerworm which has proved to be a major drain on the economy is smuggling. Smuggling is a national problem and those who engage in it are considered economic saboteurs The conservative estimate of Nigeria’s revenue loss to smuggling is a staggering $2.5 billion, an amount that has invariably tempted an entire nation to make smuggling to Nigeria one of its major sources of revenue.

Unfortunately it is innocent Nigerian who pays the price for this economic savagery allegedly carried out by the Republic of Benin, Nigeria’s West African neighbour from the south west area. Factories in the largest country in the West African sub region are losing capacity due to smuggling and bread winners are being kick out of their jobs.

In the case of rice smuggling alone, Nigeria loses an average of N120 billion yearly to smuggling and almost 100 percent of rice smuggling into Nigeria happens through the borders with Benin Republic.

Nigeria also loses trillions of naira yearly in revenue to smuggling of prohibited goods such as cars, poultry products, textiles, rice, amongst others. Smuggling paralyses our local industries and it is a drain on the foreign earnings of the nation.

This underscores why the Nigeria Customs Service has intensified fight against smuggling to protect local industries, create employment and prevent the use of the nation’s markets as dumping ground for fake, substandard and unwholesome prohibited items.

The size of Nigeria as a geographical and economic giant on the continent of Africa leaves the country with the challenge of having to confront the menace from diverse points. Not much may have been heard or said about strong smuggling chains in the South South and South East Geo-Political Zones comprising eleven states of Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Anambra and Rivers States.

Other states are Delta, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Edo States. Saddled with the task of fighting smuggling in these states is the Zone C’ Federal Operations Unit of Nigeria Customs Service with Headquarter in Owerri,the Imo State capital.

A rare combination of tact, intelligence and swift enforcements by officers and men of the command led by Victor David Dimka is yielding results as heavy blows are dealt on the unrepentant smugglers with massive seizures and arrests of suspects.

This zone is where customs generates its highest seizures and arrests of smugglers in Nigeria. Known for his unassuming anti-smuggling posture, Dimka, Customs Area Controller of the unit is known for not only seizing smuggled products, but also arresting the ‘men behind the mask’.

The anti-smuggling combatant has in his trail a track record of achieving the highest number of seizures and arrest of suspected smugglers wherever he served.

This feat was evident in other places he had served including Federal Operations Unit, Zone‘A’,Lagos where he served. For Dimka, anti smuggling operations are incomplete if all Nigeria customs have to show are the wares of smugglers without the human actors who are the perpetrators of the crimes.

This knack of exposing the faces behind the crimes and pressing for their eventual prosecution and possible conviction at the courts obviously sends shivers down the spines of smuggling barons in Dimka’s Areas of Responsibility (AOR) Within January and June 2015,Dimka’s unit made 226 seizures worth over N1Billion while 129 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures across the various states under his watch.

All its patrol teams are situated 40kilometres to the borders in line with extant rules while its information patrols keeps a round the clock vigil in all its areas of coverage.

The unit, according to a recent half-year report signed by Ifeoma Onuigbo, its Public Relations Officer also has 118 cases pending in various courts where it works to ensure that smugglers are visited with the full wrath of the law. With a very minimal show of presence, Dimka’s men are not too visible and smugglers only get to know of their presence when it’s too late to escape.

According to him, all the unit’s patrols are backed by strong intelligence with quick information sharing making it almost impossible for suspects to escape as interdiction is done on a close up strategy from different directions to the target stationed smuggled ware or suspected moving vehicles. Dimka’s network of patrols runs through Benin, Asaba, Onitsha down to Enugu.

Another team sees through Abia/Ebonyi axis.There is also another at the Port Harcourt axis seeing through Warri,Bayelsa,Uyo and various coastal towns of Calabar where smuggling can be done through our waters linking the Republic of Cameroon.

Their patrols checks internal smuggling of escaped consignments that beat other customs checkpoints moving in from Lagos and other parts of the country and checking the various maritime borders. They are also specially positioned at the various airports within their areas of coverage to carry out escort for transit goods from ports to free zones as a way of facilitating trade.

Landing Certificates are issued at the end of every escort mission According to the command the month of March recorded a total of 63 seizures with a DPV of N337,368,522.00 which was the highest seizure with 25 arrests made, within the period under review. ‘’The figure was at variance with thirty-seven37 seizures with a DPV of N176,483,600 made in January, 40 seizures with DPV of N136,708,650 in February, 37seizures with DPV of N83,302,620 in April, 42 seizures with DPV of N141,228,100 in May and 47seizures with DPV of N138, 341,400 in June.

He attributed the massive seizures made in March to an apparent stronger quest for materialism by the suspects involved in an ever-increasing corrupt prone society.

Shedding more light on the seizures made within the months in question, the Customs Area Controller who expressed concern at the persistent cases of smuggling in the country despite obvious stiff penalties for those arrested, listed 210 vehicles, 990 bales of textiles and second hand clothing, 126 packages of furniture and 296 bales of fairly used bags and suitcases worth N456, 704,500; N101,805,700; N19,584,000; and N30,143,400 respectively.

Others according to him were: three thousand, nine hundred and five (3,905) pieces of used tyres amounting to #53,502,100; two thousand, one hundred and twenty-six (2,126) cartons of imported frozen poultry products worth #30,566,804; one thousand, seven hundred and thirty-one (1,731) bags of 50kg rice worth of #35,678,600; beverages and juice worth #72,000.

Dimka said that 2,686 pieces of used footwear estimated at N6,253,800; 37cartons of foreign soap/detergents with 202 cartons of foreign vegetable oil amounting to N6,874,020; other goods which include electrical and electronics parts with used fridges and compressors, machinery, all used for concealing the items worth N303, 391,772.

Quote: Shedding more light on the seizures made within the months in question, the Customs Area Controller who expressed concern at the persistent cases of smuggling in the country despite obvious stiff penalties for those arrested, listed 210 vehicles, 990 bales of textiles and second hand clothing, 126 packages of furniture and 296 bales of fairly used bags and suitcases worth N456,704,500; N101,805,700; N19,584,000; and N30,143,400 respectively.