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The Nigeria Customs Service Apapa headed by controller Muhammad Abba- Kura had arrested two male suspects named Micheal Ajibade (Driver) and Olatunde Emmanuel (Escort) along with an ambulance discovered to be carrying ten cartons of 225mg Tramadol Tablets, valued at two million,eight hundred and fourteen thousand, one hundred and thirty- nine naira only
This was disclosed at a press briefing held at the Apapa Area Command on 17th July 2019 by the Area Comptroller Muhammad Abba – Kura which he termed ‘ another form of economic sabotage perpetrated by some unpatriotic in-house staff of the Ap Moller Terminal’.
He said, on the night of Friday 12th July 2019, at about 2300hours (11 pm), my officers on routine surveillance intercepted an ambulance (Hyundai) with registration number LND 605XW LAGOS suspected to be laden with offending articles of trade. On close examination, the said ambulance was found to be carrying ten cartons of 225mg Tramadol Tablets, valued at (2,814,139.00) which on further investigation its source reveals that the drugs were stolen from an undeclared container at the Ap Moller Terminal.
The physical examination further revealed that 211 cartons of the drugs were missing from the container and the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of these stolen goods stands at Fifty – nine million, three hundred and seventy – eight thousand, three hundred and thirty – two naira and nine kobo (59,378,332.09).
‘it is regrettable to state here that while the Nigeria Customs Service is working round the clock to free this country of illicit goods, some recalcitrant and unpatriotic citizens are not relenting in their desperate urge to sabotage our efforts. Stakeholders that ought to be collaborating with the service to rid the nation of these harmful drugs are the ones committing such acts ‘ the CAC said.
It was also gathered that preliminary investigations have already commenced with a view to determining the level of involvement of other members of staff of AP Moller as part of efforts to get to the root, the crime which would be followed by the prosecution of the suspects in connection with the crime in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The CAC Muhammad Abba – kura also announced that in the last 12 working days July 1st to July 15th 2019, the A papa Area Command has collected a sum of twenty billion , twenty – seven million, six hundred and thirty – eight thousand ,nine hundred and twenty four – naira (20,027,638,924.00).
Recall that the command had collected a total of N203.3 billion revenue comprising import duty and other fees and levies between January and June, 2019, which represents 54.5 per cent of the total annual revenue target of N372.6billion for the 2019 fiscal year, which translates to a monthly revenue target of N31.046billion.
The Comptroller Abba – Kura reiterate the command resolve in enforcing fiscal policies of government which will facilitate legitimate trade within the lowest time possible as well as the sanctioning of unpatriotic traders in accordance with the provisions of the Law.