muggling of rice through the Western creeks is on the increase thereby placing a question mark on the proficiency of the Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service.
A senior customs officer of the Federal Operation Unit who does not want his name in print confided in The Tide in Lagos yesterday while revealing some seizures the command made in recent times.
He noted that the creeks account for a higher degree of rice smuggling.
According to him, “there is an inlet behind Water Corporation Jetty, Ishashi, and another at Oto -Awori and behind Alaba International Market, where smugglers are coming through with various prohibited goods with rice topping the lists.
Our findings also revealed that importers of Nigeria-bound goods through the Cotonou Ports now see the waterways as a most viable entry point either for duty invasion or concealment of prohibited items.
Most items that fall under the Federal Government’s import prohibition lists which are statutorily banned from entering the country through the land borders find their way through the waterways.
Our correspondent who visited Ishashi Jetty also discovered that these items come in trickles and in bulk depending on who is bringing them into the country.
The volume of imports for which revenue is lost on the part of the government is over 24 trucks hauling rice weekly into the country which may far outweigh the generated revenue and create an adverse effect on government policy to encourage local production of some of the products.
There are also unmanned areas that pose as an open field to smugglers. These areas are not policed by the customs men either for fear of confrontation by die-hard smugglers or customs officials chose to look the other way after settlement for the smugglers to have a field day.

Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos