Customs: Why Aliyu Released A Chinese Donkey Skin Agent Arrested?

By Stephen Ubanna

More  facts  For much  of  last May and now  , Mohammed Aliyu , Comptroller,  Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A,  has applied all his security intelligence to track the Chinese agents  involved in buying  donkey skins in Nigeria for the  country Pharmaceutical Companies that  use it as raw material to manufacture  of drugs used in curing different ailments such as High Blood Pressure, Diabete and improving turgidity in  male organs. .

The hunt for the Chinese donkey skin agents became pronounced when the Command Operations and Lagos Roving team  Headed by Riks Lura, a Chief Superintendent and one of his patrol teams was said to have made a seizure of over 100,000 pieces of  the animal skin in  Okota Axis, Alimosho local government  Area, of Lagos state, south west Nigeria.

 But for the quick intervention of  Aliyu’s  Operations and Lagos Roving  Patrol team officers in finding their way  to the location where the  Chinese agent had loaded the  pieces of  the donkey skins sourced from different  dealers in the state had been loaded into   tw0 ”20” feet Containers, it would have  been taken  to seaport and quickly processed for export.  This is an indication that the closely guarded   donkey skin  export  business dominated by the rich  has been going on for years in the country’s seaports .

 A senior Customs officer told the Value News that the seizure of the two  Container load of donkey skin  earmarked for export to China gave a clue to FOU,  Zone A, Comptroller, to go back to the drawing board to restrategise on how to break into the syndicate  to avoid turning the country to another China where the animal has gradually gone into extinction because of the Pharmaceutical Companies  rush for the skin. He got it right.

He was said to have tasked  the Command Information patrol team headed  by one Ajao, a Superintend, who mobilised his boys into action including tapping his contacts  in Lagos who  were ready to gave him informations that could help to track the Chinese donkey agents in their hideout in Lagos. It was learnt that one them was caught and detained on the orders of the Area Controller at the  Command premises.

Perhaps to get more information on why the Chinese  donkey skin agents are coming to Africa, particular, Nigeria, to  buy the  animal skin, Aliyu was said to  have promised to release the suspect if he could him reason for the high demand for the item in their country. The suspect may have believed him as he opened up that it is in high demand by Pharmaceutical Companies  who had found it a veritable raw materials for manufacturing of drugs in curing High Blood Pressure, Diabetes and improving turgidity in male organ for optimum performance. He was said to have disclosed  that the dried  donkey skin which are bought  from the local   suppliers at peanuts are  grounded  and sold to the Pharmaceutical Companies who  mix  it with other Chemicals to process it  into raw materials that could could used for their production. The Chinese suspect had given an insight of  the amount of United States dollars  sold the grounded  donkey skin  per tonne which runs into thousands  into hundreds of United States  Dollars, annually. this may have given  the Customs Comptroller  an insight  that  the country would have  lost over  N15 billion from the donkey  export  alone , if the Chinese Agent had succeeded in shipping it to his country to the awaiting hands of the  Customers. This clearly shows that  the country had lost billions of naira over the  years from  donkey export  alone when Customs attention was on it as the Chinese   businessmen have a way of penetrating Nigerians  including Customs personnel at the e Export Seat at the ports.

The Chinese suspect had expected to be released  after volunteering the information to the Customs Comptroller but no luck. This may have informed the intervention of  the  Chinese Embassy  to facilitate his release  from Customs detention. The Embassy officials  were said to have reached out to the ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate his release, an indication that the Embassy officials knew what  most of the type of business most of their people are doing in Nigeria to source for raw materials to lubricate their economy .

The ministry  may have reached out to Hameed Ali, a retired Army Colonel and no nonsense Comptroller General of Nigerian Customs Service, NCS,  who was said to have suspended, sacked  officers and downgraded many officers  who have had been found of one offence or the other at the seaports and Land Border Area to listen to the plea of the Chinese Embassy officials over the detained  suspect. 

Ali was said to have reached to reached out the FOU, Zone A, Customs boss to do the needful. He was said have opened a channel of discussion with the Chinese Embassy officials  who were ready to sign a bail bond to produce him whenever needed for further questioning over the offence committed  which falls foul of the nation’s fiscal policy.

The Embassy may have fulfilled the stringent conditions spelt out by the Customs Command  to facilitate  the release of the suspect that Aliyu gave his nod. the Customs Comptroller confirmed at a recent parlay organised by the  National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders , NAGAFF,  that the Chinese suspect was released on bail due to the intervention of his home country Embassy  in Nigeria. The arrest of the chinese  suspect may have forced other  Agents and their local donkey suppliers to  go underground to allow the situation to calm.

 Insiders informed the Magazine that Aliyu has intensified investigation to unravel the Nigerian s involved in supplying the Asian country Customers with the donkey skin. There are indications that  the Command ha closed in on one of them  with the recent  detention  of 1×40 Container load of  donkey skins  by the  Command Operations  and Lagos T Roving team in a closely guarded warehouse  operated by a Chinese Company .  in Ibadan, Oyo state.

 An elated Aliyu has vowed to break the wings of the stop the donkey business in Nigeria. Already he has sent a signal to the Area Comptrollers, that he will not hesitate to expose any seaport found to have been Cooperating with the Chinese  donkey  skin Agents.

Aliyu war against against Nigerians and the Chinese involved in the donkey skin export business , may have opened the eye of Muhammed Uba Garba, the  Area Comptroller, Seme Command , to tighten security at Seme, Badagry and Owode  axis, to ensure that the desperate Nigerian  donkey dealers and their  Chinese Customers  do not find their way to Cotonou port in Republic to continue the donkey skin export business. He was said to have read the act to the patrol team leaders to be on the red alert to ensure that the  donkey skin dealers do not have their way  in Seme, Owode or Badagry axis to practice their nefarious export trade.

A Seme resident who spoke to The Value News  disclosed that the kind of security mounted in the Area  by Muhammed’s  officers in the area have never been seen before that it would be difficult for any smuggler to dare the Command  anti-smugglers to indulge in any  export of prohibited  item, particular  donkey ski, which  is in high demand in China because  of  thee huge profit that comes with it in on one successful export alone.  

 Recall that KC. Ekekezie, an Assistant Comptroller General and Coordinator, Customs Zone A, had  said that there cannot be any fraud at the seaport or landborder Areas on the clearing of imported cargoes or facilitating the export of Agricultural or manufactured  products  without the collaboration of both  officers and Agents.  Not surprising why  Agents see themselves as” brothers and sisters with officers.