Customs seize N3bn smuggled rice, arrest 344 smugglers…

The Nigeria Customs Service seized a total of N3.02bn worth of smuggled rice between May 2022 and May 2023.

Data obtained from the service through its National Public Relations Officer, who is a Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, indicated that a total of 206,835 bags of rice were seized within the period under review.

This came as rice farmers decried the incessant cases of smuggling of the commodity, as they urged the NCS and the Federal Government to step up the fight against smugglers.

Data from the NCS showed that a total of 1,745 seizures were made by service during the 13-month review period.

It was also learnt that the import duty on these seizures was N1.7bn, while the Duty-Paid Value was N4.74bn.

It was observed that the most seizures were done in June 2022, with about 266 seizures of 13,775 bags of smuggled rice worth N260.54m.

However, the highest number of seized bags was recorded in September 2022, with 118 seizures of 96,312 bags of rice worth N295.88m.

Also, the highest value of seizures was N420.84m recorded in February 2023, which comprised 172 seizures of 12,239 bags.

344 suspected smugglers were arrested, comprising 291 suspects arrested between January and December 2022 and 53 arrested between January and May 2023.

The President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kabir Ibrahim, said the NCS must be proactive in manning Nigeria’s borders, stressing that the activities of rice smugglers had been affecting local production adversely.