The Nigeria Customs Service Thursday said it intercepted 150 cartons of bulletproof jackets worth N1.687bn.
The Zone A Federal Operations Unit of the Service, Ikeja, Lagos, announced the interception which occurred along the Ijebuode-Sagamu Expressway in Ogun State.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the unit, Kola Oladeji, explained that each carton contains 10 packs of the jacket, adding that the contrabands were seized in June.
He said: “An end-user certificate is required for the importation of controlled items and products into Nigeria and it comes from the Office of the National Security Adviser.”
He stated that four suspects were arrested in connection with the various offenses, “including violating import/export guidelines, concealment, wrong classification, smuggling, and contravening policy directives,”
He disclosed that the cumulative duty paid value of the various intercepted goods amounts to N3.6bn.
Oladeji said the unit also recovered the sum of N62m as revenue for June 2024 through documentary checks and the issuance of demand notices on consignments that were found to have paid lesser amounts than the appropriate duties.
He urged Nigerians to provide the service with useful and timely information that would lead to the arrest of illegal importation of military wares, illicit drugs, and counterfeit goods.
“Importers and licensed agents are also urged to make sincere declarations, adhere to existing import and export guidelines, and avoid the risk of losing their goods,” he said.
