The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja, said it would leverage on intelligence-driven operations to tackle smuggling.
This is even as the unit warned importers and their clearing agents against false declarations.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the unit, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated this on Thursday when he received members of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria in Ikeja, Lagos.
Shuaibu promised to deploy his wealth of experience to navigate the unit’s complexities and implement “intelligence-driven operations rather than stopping containers incessantly on the highways.”
According to him, though the command is meant to be an anti-smuggling command, it also facilitates trade.
“In terms of our anti-smuggling activities, very soon we are going to showcase some of our seizures and the suspects to the public. I do intelligence-driven operations.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that we don’t just stop any kind of containers, even those checking points you see our officers roving around, we would want to eradicate that, while we will be doing intelligence-driven operations.
So, at any point in time, you will see that our officers will stop you and then remove those illegal items that are supposed to be extracted from your consignment,” he said.
He urged importers and their clearing agents to be honest in their declarations to ensure ease of doing business.
“If you see such officers coming out, it is because of the insincerity of the declarants or the importers. Now, we are going to be doing intelligence-driven operations, so if you see them stationed at a strategic location, it is because of the information at our disposal that we are tracking”, he explained.
Shuaibu promised to consolidate on the successes achieved earlier, collaborate and synergise with the necessary stakeholders in facilitating trade, adding that the command is always collaborating with sister agencies, and one of such collaborations was recently done with the Nigerian Army.
Earlier, the President of SCAN, Moses Ebosele, commended the unit for their commitment to protecting the economy against illicit items.
