Seme Customs Records Revenue Boost In August …Makes N18m Seizures

Comptroller Willy
Egbudin, who was recently posted to man the busiest border in the country, Seme border, has begun to replicate his wheezy operations in the area, as he picked up various items believed to have contravened the provisions of the Customs & Excise. Management Act (CEMA).
Reports credited to the Public Relations Department of the command indicate that the up-beat on anti smuggling operations under the Egbudin has heightened fears and anxieties in the camps of smugglers within the border town  axis under the command.
Sources close to the office of the O/C operations, Assistant Comptroller, Nkemdirim Emmanuel, said since the arrival of Egbudin, he has reinvigorated the intelligence and surveillance units and carried out a number of minor changes to re-jig the units performance.
Giving an insight into the Command’s revenue profile in the month of August, the Commands image maker, Mr. Olottah Ernest, Superintendent of Customs (SC), last Friday, said although the command had a monthly target of N1,095 million, which translates to about N13.1 billion annually, it generated an unprecedented revenue of N 781,797,557.68 in the month of August, 2014.
Ollotah said that the increase in the command’s revenue profile was as a result of effective anti-smuggling campaign and several meetings with traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
In the area of smuggling, the command’s spokesman said, the command has recorded 76 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N18,076, 595.00 in the same month of August, which he believed have sent shock waves down the spine of the underground world.
Amongst other items seized are rice, vehicles, narcotics, frozen poultry products.
In a related development, the Officer-in-Charge of Operations Seme Command, Assistant Comptroller Emmanuel, has been described as a man with a record of the uncommon hunter, who pursues smugglers right up to their stronghold . Nkemdirim popularly known as Mr. hunter, according to a freight forwarder, (names withheld)  at the border said he is never known to compromise or fear.
It was learnt that since he was deployed to head the operations unit, the scar of his bold march are still hunting the dire-hard, as  smugglers are now beginning to surrender to the bush-doctor.
He told The Tide at the weekend that as an O/C operations, his duty is to carry out the directives of the Area Comptroller, Mr. Willy Egbudin, to the latter, adding  that he has instructions to run a regime of zero tolerance in all forms of smuggling as a cardinal agenda of the Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Inde Dikko.
He warned those who are not ready to do business according to the rule of law to instead seek other areas to operate, as he would neither retreat nor negotiate.