Border Patrol Uncovers 6 Riffles, 1,125 live Cartridges Concealed in Garri
...Arrest 1, 507 illegal immigrants
The Joint Border Patrol Team Sector 2, South West, has intercepted six units of pump action riffles, 1,125 live cartridges hidden inside sacks of garri at a border town in Oyo State and declared seizures of other contrabands worth N36bn between 2019 till date.
The team added that the arms loaded in a Toyota Camry were concealed in a sack containing cassava flakes along Okerete-Ododo Bush in Oyo State.
The Coordinator of the team, Mohammed Shuaibu, a Deputy Controller of Customs, disclosed this on Friday while addressing journalists in Ikeja.
He also said that the team arrested 1,507 illegal immigrants within the period under review.
“The team intercepted six pieces of pump action riffles and 1,125 live cartridges concealed in a sack containing cassava flakes along Okerete-Ododo Bush in Oyo State,” he said.
According to him, the rifles with numbers 602-H22YT-641, 602-H22YT-397, 602-H22YT-623, 22-MT-0238, P537916, and T051084 loaded in a Toyota Saloon car were intercepted last week.
Giving details of the seizures, Shuaibu stated that between August 2019 and ill date, the team intercepted,130,954 bags of foreign bags of rice equipment and tin218 truckloads
“Others include, 7,200kg of pangolin scales, 5, 575, 020 liters of Premium Motor Spirit, 11,322 cartons of foreign frozen products, 4,124 bales of used clothes, 4,057 kegs of vegetable oil, 15 pump action riffles, 280 suspected cases of human trafficking, 480 units of motor vehicles and 1.190 means of conveyances,”
According to him, the seized goods have a duty-paid value of N36.7bn.
Shuaibu added that the team’s efforts also boosted the Federal Government’s revenue through auction sales.”
He said an aggregate of N1.1bn was paid into the federation account from the sales of seized petroleum products, “at the same time, the national security was enhanced by seizing and frustrating the supply chains of illicit goods, which had security implications and concerns.”
The team was inaugurated in August 2019, to address security challenges along the nation’s international borders caused by the proliferation of smuggled small and light weapons, illicit drugs, prohibited goods, and other cross-border crimes.
The Office of the National Security Adviser coordinates the management of the Joint Border Patrol Team working closely with the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Police, the Immigration Service, the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency, with the Nigeria Customs Service as the lead agency to ensure improved security at nation’s border
The Joint Border Patrol Team Sector 2, covers the Southwest geo-political Zone of Nigeria. It specifically focused on the border corridors with the neighboring countries.
