Customs impounds two oil tankers in Kano, nabs three suspects

Posted by admin Headlines Sunday, August 14th, 2011

The Kano/Jigawa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has impounded two oil tankers, loaded with contrabands, worth several millions of naira, just as the command also arrested three suspects in connection with the attempted smuggling.

The two oil tankers were said to have been intercepted at Gaida Village in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State.

Alhaji Sanusi Abubakar Umar, the Customs Area Comptroller of Kano/Jigawa Command, told journalists in Kano on Saturday that the illegal activities of smugglers in the state have hampered the command’s efforts towards meeting its revenue target.

His words; “by and large, this explained why Kano/Jigawa Command cannot get its required revenue target because if the people who do this kind of things can come forward and pay the required customs duty, I think every month, we would surpass our own target.”

According to him, the activities of smugglers amount to a breach of customs laws and regulations and also a breach of national security.

He further added that “you can equally look at it in another form, what if these items are not textiles? They could have been anything else, and more especially with our nascent democracy, and that is why, we in customs feel that we should be doing our job properly.”

Umar stated that three suspects were have been apprehended while attempting to smuggle the textile materials to an unknown destination, pointing out that investigations into the matter have been intensified to unravel the mystery surrounding the use of oil tankers for smuggling.

He explained that the two oil tankers with MRS and Total Oil Inscriptions were used to smuggle about 500 bales of textile materials, before they were intercepted by customs officers who had kept vigil for weeks following an intensive intelligence gathering.

-Tribunewp_posts