He quoted the Acting Customs Area Controller, Usman Yahaya, to have said the contraband consisted of 34 fairly-used and new vehicles, which were laden with second hand clothes, Indian hemp and foreign parboiled rice.
He said: “Some economic saboteurs met their waterloo when our operatives acted based on credible information, made a single seizure at Ido, Eruwa-Ibadan Road, Oyo State. The contrabands include 34 different brands of both new and used vehicles laden with banned items such as second hand clothes, foreign parboiled rice and Indian hemp.”
He noted that although there was stiff resistance from the smugglers, who engaged the support of hoodlums, the Customs operatives displayed a high level of professionalism and restraint to secure the contraband to the Customs warehouse in Lagos.
“Our operatives were met with stiff resistance from a combination of smugglers, hoodlums and villagers. However, with the application of high level of professionalism, the patrol teams were able to bring all the vehicles down to Lagos without any casualty,” he said.
Yahaya, however, warned smugglers to desist from engaging in economic activities that sabotaged the government policies of making Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.
“While we appreciate the support and the cooperation of patriotic members of the public in carrying out our mandate by providing timely and useful information, however, recalcitrant economic saboteurs should note that they would continue to count their losses because we are better mobilized, organized, and backed by the extant laws to be always ahead of them,” he stated.
