Four container loads of unprocessed wood valued at N373.5 million about being illegally shipped out of Nigeria to Asia have been impounded by the Nigeria Customs Service.
Ahmadu Shuaibu, controller general of customs strike force,Team A, made the disclosure on Wednesday while showcasing the items in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
Shuaibu said the wood smugglers defied extant export prohibition list, noting that the federal government had since 2019 outlawed the export of unprocessed woods and allied products to protect the nation’s forest regions.
He added that the “criminally minded” businessmen are riding on the determination of the government to improve on the nation’s export trade, to indulge in the illegal shipment of woods to Asia.
The deputy comptroller of Customs further disclosed that the strike force Team A, which he heads, has shifted its attention to identifying dangerous cargoes of illegal exports right inside the seaports before they are cleared.
Among other seized items displayed were 550 cartons of footwear, 343 rolls of synthetic grass cover and 1,709 bags of 50kg of foreign parboiled rice with a cumulative Duty Paid Value of N664.6 million.
Shuaibu noted that between January and June 2021, a total of 86 seizures worth N1.65 billion in Duty Paid Value (DPV) were made and they were found to have contravened different sections of the customs and excise laws.
“Sequel to meticulous documentary checks, the ICT components of the team recovered the sum of N1.9 billion from Demand Notices (DN) raised within the period under review (January and June 2021),” he added.
Considering the socio economic, security and health effects on the national economy, he enjoined importers, exporters and traders to be committed to the well being of the nation’s economy by complying with the federal government extant laws and policies aimed at reviving moribund industries and to sustain the existing ones.
