The highest value of rice seizures in Nigeria has been linked to about 420.84 million naira.
This seizure which was recorded in February 2023, comprised 172 seizures of 12,239 bags.
According to PUNCH Newspapers, 344 suspected smugglers were arrested, comprising 291 suspects who were arrested between January and December 2022 while 53 were arrested between January and May 2023.
This data was reportedly obtained from the Nigeria Customs Service through its National Public Relations Officer, who is a Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada.
He noted that a total of 206,835 bags of rice were seized within this period.
Maiwada said, “We have our data and there is no country in the world that has stopped the activities of smugglers or smuggling 100 per cent. We also know how vast and porous the border lines are, and we know the number of human resources we have, even though more are coming.
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He further said that “Some are currently undergoing training and will be coming in the next few months. We also have facilities that are coming in. So we are doing everything possible to make sure that we curtail smuggling to the barest minimum.”
His words “We are supporting what we are telling you now with data. This is the number we have seized, the quantity, value, duty, and duty-paid value as seen in the last column. We have the number of seizures of rice recorded in each month, the number of bags seized, which will be 50kg, we have the value and others, in the last one year.”
