The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone D, Bauchi has seized counterfeit Pangolin scales worth N432 million.
The Zone’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Umar Abdullahi, said this on Monday in Bauchi at a news conference.
He said that the confiscated commodities violated section 63 of the Customs and Excise Management Act, CAP 45 Laws of Nigeria, and that the Pangolin scales weighted roughly 216 kg.
He advised smugglers to abandon their illicit operations and find a better way to earn a living.
In his words, “The Comptroller, FOU Zone ‘D’ Bauchi, Mr Joseph Adelaja, acting on credible intelligence, deployed operatives who raided a makeshift shop at a motor park along Sangere-Yola axis in Adamawa State on May 11, and evacuated four sacks and one small sack of Pangolin scales.
“The evacuated sacks of Pangolin scales were weighed to be a total of 216 Kgs with a total Duty Paid Value of N432,000,000.
“Let me use this medium to plead with well-meaning Nigerians to assist in providing genuine information that can aid in eradicating the menace of smuggling in the zone and the country at large.
“I want them to know that eradicating smuggling in this country will boost the economy, which in the long run will enable the Federal Government to provide social amenities for the citizenry.
“The officers and men of the FOU Zone ‘D’ of the Nigerian Customs Service, under the leadership of Adelaja, will not rest on their oars”.
cc: Daily Post Ng
