The Adamawa/Taraba Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on
Monday traced bags of foreign rice hidden in a private residence in
Yola the Adamawa State capital.
Customs personnel raided the residence after a tip-off which led to
the evacuation of several hundreds of 50Kg bags of foreign parboiled
rice.
The NCS has long been seizing foreign rice in pursuit of its fight
against contraband goods, which may have promoted the owner of the
seized rice to choose to keep his rice in a residential building far
away from markets that NCS usually raid.
Addressing newsmen in Yola after the raid Mu’awuya Abubakar the Public
Relations Officer of the command said the command got wind of the
illegal activity of smugglers on the property.
He also attributed the development cooperation of the stakeholders in
support of its war against smuggling of contraband items into the
country.
He said, “We got to know about this place from information that some
individuals now at large were smuggling foreign rice and hiding here.”
He said the seizure was in furtherance of the determination by the NCS
to ensure that foreign rice which managed to get from the
international borderlines into communities do not get sold to
consumers.
He cautioned landlords to be wary of what their tenants use their
properties for, as landlords would be liable where their properties
are found to have been used for illicit activities.
He added that the house in Doubeli from where the foreign rice had
been impounded would be sealed for as long as it took for
investigations to be concluded.
He also said no far no arrest had been made as the suspect fled before
the arrival of the NCS.
