The Nigeria Customs Service has said that it seized 238,094(50kg) bags of rice across Nigeria from January to November.
Other items seized were arms and ammunitions, dangerous drugs as well as vehicles.
The Public Relations Officer, NCS, Joseph Attah, disclosed this in Lagos on Monday, during the end of the year breakfast meeting with journalists.
He said the items were disposed off in accordance with the law, adding that the NCS realised N346.1bn from 806 seized vehicles sold to 753 Nigerians through its e-auction exercise.
Also, 424,391(50kg) bags of rice worth N4.05bn were distributed to Internally Displaced Persons’ camps along with other perishable items.
The NCS spokesperson confirmed that the Service generated total revenue of N1.1tn during the period, surpassing the 2017 revenue figure by N63bn.
In 2017, Customs generated N1.037tn, the highest revenue it ever recorded.
Attah described the revenue generation as a clear testimony to the fact that the ongoing reforms of the NCS were impacting positively on productivity.
He said, “The implementation of the presidential mandate of Restructure, Reforms and Raise revenue by the present management of the NCS has greatly repositioned the Service for the better.
“What is challenging but being gradually achieved is the reform of the human person; the need for attitudinal change on the part of operatives and stakeholders.
“Today in the Service, there is an increasing disposition to place national interest above self. There are many cases of officers and men of the Customs resisting attempt to be compromised.”
He revealed, however, that during the period, suppression of smuggling was the most challenging aspect of the NCS’ functions.
He said, “Regrettably, many people still see smuggling as business, not crime. Violent crimes are perpetrated with dangerous items, such as arms and drugs, smuggled into the country.
“As we strive to fight smuggling, we are often confronted with the following challenges: porous borders and non-cooperative attitude of some border dwellers.
Others are the willingness of some Nigerians to help the smugglers to mob Customs operatives, lack of proper implementation of the ECOWAS protocol on transit by our neighbours and use of motorcycles and animals to smuggle goods through difficult terrains.”
Speaking further about the distribution of seized items to IDP camps, he said that the Comptroller-General of NCS, Hameed Ali (retd.), had obtained presidential approval to extend the distribution of the items to other IDP camps and registered orphanages across the country.
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