Customs seizes 3,000 short gun cartridges

---

By Moshood Adebayo, Abeokuta
Barely one week in office, the Area Comptroller of Customs, Ogun State Command, Prince Ademuyiwa Dosunmu, has made a rare seizure of 3,000 short gun cartridges as well as 40 bags of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa, popularly known as Indian hemp.
In his maiden address, Dosunmu said the seizures were made in the early hours of Thursday in a Honda CRV at Agosasa bush path.
The controller lamented what he described as the grave consequences of the ammunition if it had been successfully smuggled into the country.
“The illegal consignment of arms could cause mayhem as well as other security challenges that would have been unbearable to all and sundry if the smugglers had succeeded in their nefarious act,” Dosunmu said.
He put the street value at N768,000, and also disclosed that the driver of the ash-colour SUV fled after sensing danger.
While noting that the seizure was made possible through the vigilance of officers and men of the command, he said that ordinarily nobody would have known the vehicle was carrying ammunition.
“It looked like just any vehicle passing-by but it was through close scrutiny that my men discovered it was carrying contraband or dangerous items, particularly as the driver on sighting our officers and men jumped into the bush, leaving behind his vehicle,” an elated Dosunmu said.
Men of the command also intercepted about 1,288 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products, which Dosunmu described as not only highly injurious to Nigerians, but posed serious threat to the economy of the country.
He said: “I want to appeal to Nigerians to desist from engaging in this unholy trade as well as consumption of same, which is injurious to their health and hinder patronage of local poultry farmers trying to grapple with the economy.”
In line with the Federal Government’s directive and regulations on frozen poultry, the poultry products were later destroyed in the presence of other security agencies in the state.
Among other seizures made were 147 kegs of 25-litre vegetable oil, both with duty paid valued of N4,659,600, as well as 23 vehicles, bales of second-hand clothing, shoes, children’s clothes and motorcycles.
Dosunmu also disclosed that 140,000 litres of petrol and 256 bags of imported rice were also seized at Idi-Iroko and Abeokuta axis of the state.
He urged traditional rulers at the border areas to assist theNigeria  Customs Service in the Herculean task of combating and checking smuggling within the jurisdiction of the command.

Culled from The Sun