The Eastern Marine Command of the Customs Service has seized second- hand clothings valued at over N300 million naira from smugglers. Our Correspondent reports that the contraband goods are now secured at the Customs warehouse in Calabar.  Addressing newsmen at the Calabar port, the Comptroller of Customs, Eastern Marine Command, Abdulkarim Husseni, said that seizure was made as a result of intelligent report that two locally-made boats carrying contraband goods were sighted at Ibaka Creek along Oron in Akwa Ibom state.  According to him, “immediately I mobilized my team to swoop the area on October 30, 2009, which resulted to the impoundment of the two boats loaded with second hand clothing which is contraband in Nigeria.”

He said that the two ceased boats with the goods inside were brought to Calabar port for safe keeping in the Customs warehouse.

The Comptroller however regretted that the occupants of the two boats on sighting his men dived into the way and escaped inside the creeks.  While commending the Comptroller-General of Customs for providing facilities which had aided his team, he said, “we are going to make sure that smugglers will never have their way again.”  He regretted that the activities of the militants was contributory to the inability of his men to function effectively, but declared, “now that the President has granted them amnesty, we are prepared to track them down at all cost.”  Alhaji Abdulkarim advised the smugglers to look for another business as Custom officers will no longer allow them to thrive in the smuggling activities.

According to him, ”now that we have enough boats and other facilities to work, we are prepared and committed to do our job more than before.”  Also speaking, the Comptroller, Federal Operations Zone  C, Mr. Kane E. Dede, said the achievement was recorded because of the support from the Comptroller-General of Customs.

The encouragement we have gotten from the Comptroller-General since his assumption of office cannot be measured, hence these successes, he said.

He described the seizure as the biggest in recent times due to the activities of the militants which had affected their operations, adding that, “but today,  now that the water ways are safe for us to operate, we are ready for smugglers.”

Mr. Kane announced that another seizure has been made in Benin which is an indication that the officers and men of the Custom services are alive to their responsibilities.

On what will become of the goods ceased, he said, the Federal Government will decide after judgment would been passed against the items in the law court.