Customs seize 159,506 bags of rice, nab 1,401 illegal immigrants

Etim Effiong

The joint border patrol team of the Nigeria Customs Service, on Thursday, arrested over 1,400 illegal immigrants and seized about 160,000 bags of rice in the past 16 months.

According to the NCS, on January 5, 2021, a total of 1,401 irregular migrants were arrested, while 159,506.7 (50kg) bags of parboiled foreign rice were seized.

Others are 10,447 bags of NPK fertilisers used for making explosives; 1,974 vehicles; 895 motorcycles; 18,690.3 jerrycans of vegetable oil, among others.

“The total monetary value of the apprehended items is about N12,538,333,545.5,” the Public Relations Officer, NCS, Joseph Attah, said in a statement in Abuja.

The service added that Operation Swift Response, which was inaugurated in August 2019 and coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser, had transformed into Nigeria’s Joint Border Patrol Team.

Attah noted that the initiative was part of a tripartite operation, comprising Benin, Niger and Nigeria.

He said: “With the reopening of the borders for commercial activities, items such as parboiled rice, frozen chicken, illicit drugs, among others remain prohibited.”

It stated that the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, in a goodwill message to the transformed Operation Swift Response, praised the commitment of the security operatives to the national assignment.