The Kwara Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generated the sum of N5,992,300,562.73 between June and October, an official said on Tuesday in Ilorin.
The Customs Area Controller, Kwara Command, Comptroller Kehinde Ilesanmi, disclosed this during a news conference.
He said the amount generated within the period under review surpassed what was generated in the same period in 2022 with N307,517,623.49.
Ilesanmi said the command under the same period recorded 15 seizures.
” These included 352 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50kg each, and 1,875 liters of petroleum of 25 liters each in 75 jerry cans.”
The Comptroller said three suspects were arrested during the period under review while the duty paid value (DPV) of the seizure was N11,149,636.00.
He also used the forum to parade and hand over two suspects arrested by the Customs in connection with two stolen vehicles to policemen from the Lagos Police Command.
“This handing over of suspected stolen vehicles which were intercepted by officers and men of the command is an intervention that is in furtherance of the synergy that has been in place between the NCS and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
”The Customs and Police have traditional responsibilities of coexisting and collaborating and whenever we see any infraction that seems to affect each other, we make arrests and hand over to the appropriate authority.
“It will be recalled that Kwara Command’s land border is still under lock and key for movement of vehicles and other commercial activities.
“During the course of investigation, it was discovered that the registration number of the said vehicle belonged to a Toyota Hiace bus. This is what heightened the curiosity of our officers and the vehicle was detained,” Ilesanmi explained.
He warned smugglers to steer clear of Kwara, adding that the NCS officers have continued to dominate with aggressive patrols to deny smugglers freedom of action.
Ilesanmi praised the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, and his management team for giving the Kwara Command additional four patrol vehicles to assist in achieving great results.