By Stephen Ubanna
Barely one month after Ahmadu Shuaibu, Deputy Comptroller of Customs and Coordinator, of the Comptroller General of Customs, CGC, Strike Force Team A, had intercepted and seized sacks of Pangolin scales, Elephant Tusks and Pangolin Claws, worth about N22.84billion which had attracted Hameed Ali, a retired army Colonel and the Customs boss to Lagos to conduct the press briefing himself, the Team had made another monumental seizures in the month of August 2021.
This time around, the Team which had engaged the services of informants and which operations are intelligence driven and e-knowledge had made 5x’’20’’Containers load of teak wood. Conducting Journalists round the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, IKLT, in Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve entre, where the intercepted and seized Containers load of teakwood, were kept, the CGC Strike Force Team A, Coordinator, had sent a message to economic saboteurs to turn a leaf or be ready to always run into trouble as the Team members are fully prepared to deal decisively with them. The Coordinator, who spoke extempore, had given an insider information on each of the teakwood o Container loads opened for Journalists to see.
One of the ‘’20’’ Containers with registration, No. TCKU1279613, based on his explanation, contained 67 logs of wood with a Duty paid Value, DPV, of about N64 million. Another of such ‘’20’’ Containers load of Timber with registration No. MRKU6720640, he said, was loaded with nine logs of wood, worth about N8.56million. The third ‘’20’’ Container with No. HLBU1184397, which was also shown to Journalists contained 16 logs of wood valued at about N15.21 million. Recall that last July, the Deputy Comptroller Shuaibu led CGC Strike Force Team A, had intercepted and seized 4x’’20’’ Containers load of Teak wood for export.
The Containers load of teakwood were said to have been sourced from Taraba, Theophilous Danjuma, a retired army General and for minister of Defence during Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency home state. Taraba forest, over the years, had witnessed high timber and fuel wood exploitation. An informed source told The Value News that despite the existence of forest Legislations in the state, ‘’illegal logging and indiscriminate forest resources exploitation, has continued to increase at alarming rate.
Perhaps , what may have thrown light about the high level of racketeering at the Lagos ports, particular, the Apapa port, was the Team seizure of a 40’’ Container load of Charcoal meant for export to the Asian country of China. This may have informed wh ythe CG Strike Force, Team A, Coordinator has warned against continued deforestation and therefore, the need for people to take afforestation seriously to avoid turn the country’s forest reserves into an unpleasant environment where everywhere would turn to green.
This s where Darius Ishiaku, the taraba state governor,may have to beam his search light on the forest in the state to avoid further illegal felling of the timbers. Only last year, Project 2020, Association of Timber buyers, who may have realised the ecological problem caused by the felling of the trees in the Tataraba forest had resolved to preserve and reclaim the forest as they had embarked on planting of five million trees in the first quarter of 2020.
It is instructive to note that the Team had also intercepted and seized 2x’’40’’ Containers load of donkey skins, popular, Hides and Skins. One of the donkey skin Containers was said to have been intercepted around the Apapa port exit gate, which gives an insider information of what has been happening at the port over the years regarding the abuse of the export prohibition list. One of the ‘’40’’ Containers, after Examination, was found to have been loaded with 665 sacks of donkey skin , containing 10 pieces each., whose owner was aid to have disappeared into tin-air when he sighted the CGC Strike Force Operatives around his premises,
Apart from the teakwood and donkey skin exporters who are counting their loses, the importers of Container No. CBHU 8697030, loaded with 400 bags,229 sacks of shoes evacuated from a Lagos based warehouse, one unit of a Mazda bus and 167 used tyres are also counting their loses. According to the CGC, Strike Force Coordinator, ‘’the Cumulative total value of both the import and export goods seized at the Lagos ports in the month of August, alone was about N644 million’’.
Appealing to Nigerian importers and exporters to always ensure they make correct declaration, as the Team operations and Information Communication and Technology, ICT, officers are equal to the task. Between October 2020 and now, the ICT, unit of the Team alone, with the backing of the customs Coordinator,had about N3.1 billion for the government. This is money that could have entered private pockets. That much was confirmed by Deputy Comptroller Shuaibu, while briefing Journalists in Lagos on its activities in the month of August, 2021.
aware that it cannot on its own investigate the seized Containers load of teakwood, donkey skin and Charcoal, earmarked for export or the imported Container load of bags or the warehouse that was raided to evacuate the shoes, the Customs Coordinator was said to have forwarded his report to the Customs Comptroller General’s office, who in turn was said to have referred the matter to Elton Edorhe ,the acting Deputy Comptroller General, Enforcement , Investigation and Inspection, EI&I, and who in turn was said to have mobilized his officers handed it over the Investigation unit to unravel the economic saboteurs.
He may have gladdened the heart of Nigerians when he disclosed that Tarore Dakonba, Isiak Musa and Mohammed Bereta, who were arrested last August in connection with the Pangolin, Elepghant Tusks and Pangolin Claws, seizure, are already being prosecuted as a deterrence to other desperate Nigerians and their foreign Collaborators involved in such illegal exports. Note that Berete Morybinet, the arrowhead of the illegal endangered species exports is still on run. The Customs Comptroller had made it clear to those that cares to listen that he will be arrested anytime seen as his men and other security operatives are on the lookout for him.
While importers and exporters are no longer finding it funny in the hands of the CGC Strike Force Team, A, officers, Foreign parboiled rice, smugglers in the six south west states of Lagos, Ogun , Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti were said to have been given a run for their money in the month of August ,as the Team , operations ounit, Headed by Isah Hammawa, a Chief Superintendent of Customs, were said to have intercepted and seized 1,372bags of 50Kg each.
The Customs Deputy Comptroller, overseeing the CGC Strike Force Team A, had confirmed that the foreign bags of rice were intercepted mostly from the smugglers hideouts in the creeks without an exchange of bullet. He had said that the Operational officers are working bases on their mandate never to confront smugglers where they have influence, to avoid rallying round their supporters for a counter-attack that may lead to bloodshed. This may have marked out the Interventionist unit as an organised anti-smuggling operations as it has never witnessed any casualty or any confrontation with the smugglers in the discharge of their duties compared to the Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, Operatives, which have continued to be attacked by the hoodlums during operations. This is evident with the atatcks on the Command officers between 2020 and 2021, in Ogun and Oyo states.
But the Customs Coordinator has a word of advice for those who thinks that smugglers operate only the Border areas, stating that the economic saboteurs also operate at the country’s seaports. This is evident with the 40 Containers that was said to have been by the Team between October last year and now, loaded with different goods.
. He may have sent a message to the smugglers based on what the Late Chinua Achebe, had said in his book, ‘’Things Fall Apart’’ that ‘’just the birds had learnt to fly without perching, officers have learnt to shoot without missing’’. He has his reason. ‘’We are well motivated by the Customs Comptroller General and we have the capacity to do our work’’.
