The Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) under Comptroller (Dr) Ben Oramalugo deals bitter blows on smuggling activities around areas under the Command’s domain, resulting in bigger seizures and weakening the nerves of many die-hard smugglers
By Innocent Chukwu
The first quarter of the year, 2024, remains spectacular in the trajectory of the operations of the Oyo/Osun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service. Within the three months of the quarter, the command worked very hard to achieve increased revenue generation and anti-smuggling operations that resulted in huge seizures as never witnessed before. These are happening under the leadership of the Command’s Area Controller (CAC), Dr. Ben Oramalugo, an academic personality of high repute.
On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Dr. Oramalugo hosted a media briefing at the Command’s premises during which he showcased numerous successes of the Command within the first three months of the year, especially in the areas of crushing smuggling activities, making seizures and collecting increased revenue for the government. At the media event, the Command revealed that it recorded significant successes in intercepting smuggled items that sent fears into the camps of die-hard smugglers.
According to the CAC, Oramalugo, between January and March 2024, the Command intercepted and seized numerous smuggled items with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N2,181,860,440. The DPV of the first quarter of 2024 shows an increase of N2,098,515,640 when compared with the DPV of the first quarter of 2023 which value was N83,344,800. But between the month of March 2024 and April 16, 2024, the Oyo/Osun Command made numerous seizures with their DPV totaling N299,660,940.
Some of the latest seizures as showcased by Dr. Oramalugo included, 982 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice, 12 sacks and 4 wraps of cannabis sativa commonly called Indian hemp which weighed about 80.2kg, 250 pieces of used tyres, six sacks of second hand clothing and 25 bales of secondhand clothing. Others were 27 bales of African original textile materials, 494 kegs of 25 litres each of premium motor spirit (PMS) which equals to 24,700 litres of PMS, one pack of Diazepam tablets, 20 packs of tramadol tablets, one unit of DAF truck with six tyres and another one unit of DAF truck with 12 tyres.
On revenue generation, Comptroller Oramalugo said the Command was able to generate a total of N5,673,615,718.5 billion in the month of March 2024. Earlier, the Command generated a total of N12,496,043,684.11 billion for the months of January and February 2024. Thus, the Oyo/Osun command generated a cumulative total of the sum of N18,169,659,402.67 billion for the months of January to March, 2024.
The command also said despite the economic challenges being faced by the country, it remains resolute in its commitment to its assigned duties and service to the nation. Meanwhile, the command, on the same day, April 17, handed over seized counterfeit pharmaceutical products to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). According to the image maker of the Oyo/Osun Command, Kayode Wey, a Superintendent of Customs (SC), in a statement, the seized counterfeit pharmaceutical products include, seven sacks of Augmentin tablets by 625mg, 22 sacks of Ampiclox tablets, 24 sacks of Amoxycillin capsules of 500mg.
“These drugs were intercepted by vilgilant officers of the Oyo/Osun Command during routine patrol operations. Upon examination, it was confirmed that the pharmaceuticals were counterfeit with a Duty Paid Value of N1,739,000,000,” the statement read in part.
The fake pharmaceutical products were also handed over to NAFDAC through its Zonal Director, South west Zone, Mrs Roseline Ajayi.
