Customs Intercept 300 Bags Of Smuggled Rice, Vehicles In Kano
By Yakubu Salisu A, Kano
The Nigeria Customs Service Kano-jigawa command has intercepted 300 bags of smuggled Rice as well as three vehicles suspected also to be smuggled into the state.
Speaking to news men on Monday evening at the Kano Command headquarters, the Comptroller, Yusuf Abba Kasim said that the smuggled goods were intercepted on their way into Kano from Jigawa and Katsina respectively.
” As you can see, these bags of rice and three cars were confiscated in three days. The rice were smuggled in through babura in Jigawa State while the cars were smuggled in through Katsina”
According to Kasim, it would be recalled that there was a recent clash between custom officers and villagers at Babura town in Jigawa during which custom stations and vehicles were vandalised by angry youths over the alleged shooting of a resident of the area, a situation which forced the men of the service to withdraw from the town. This, he said, gave the smugglers the inpression that they can carry out their illegal business.
According to Kasim, two suspects were so far arrested in connection with the arrest of the goods estimated to be about 7 million naira.
He warned that, the command would not relent in its efforts at combating smuggling of contraband goods into the state and country at large. Stressing that the service has the statutory power to raid and confiscate any smuggled goods into the country not necessarily only at the borders.