President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the borders be closed has enabled the seizure of over N2.3tn worth of contraband as a result of the intensive joint border patrol by security agencies.
Recall that the Federal Government on August 20 ordered that all Nigerian land borders be closed in a bid to check the smuggling of contraband goods from neighbouring countries.
The spokesperson for the Joint Border Security Exercise and National Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Customs Service, Joseph Attah told the PUNCH that the joint border security, consisting of all the agencies working together, had recorded some achievements, while the NCS as a separate entity had recorded some feats as well.
He listed the seized items to include guns, ammunition, rice, vehicles, drugs and jerrycans of petrol.
He said, “The worth of the seizures as of October 30, 2019 is N2,309,336,000,880. This is the cumulative sum of the various seizures.”
According to him, some of the items seized are “437,225 jerrycans of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, 363 vehicles, 32,814 bags of rice as well as several drugs, ammunition and guns.”
He added that 203 illegal migrants and eight traffickers had also been arrested.
