The Nigeria Customs Service says it reportedly seized a total of N3.02bn worth of smuggled rice between May 2022 and May 2023.

These findings were disclosed by The PUNCH newspapers.

Data obtained from the service through its National Public Relations Officer, who is a Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, indicated that a total of 206,835 bags of rice were seized within the period under review.

This comes as rice farmers decry the incessant cases of smuggling of the commodity.

They also want the NCS and the Federal Government to step up the fight against smugglers.

Data from the NCS showed that a total of 1,745 seizures were made by the service during the 13-month review period.