The Nigeria Customs Service has declared a state of emergency at the Onne Port in Rivers state.
Comptroller General of the Service, Bashir Adeniyi, made this known during a press briefing to display some seized containers at the Customs Area 2 Command Onne on Wednesday.
He said this is necessitated as a result of a disturbing trend wherein the Onne port appears to be the favourite destination of purveyors of illicit drugs.
The Customs boss revealed that by their intelligence, they have noticed a pattern in how containers carrying illicit and dangerous goods target Onne Port. As a result the Service will be implementing stricter examinations of all suspected containers for the next 3 months.
He displayed 12 seized 40 feet containers carrying a variety of illicit drugs and paramilitary uniforms.
The breakdown is as follows:
1) One 40-feet container containing 4,800 pairs of military/paramilitary camouflage rain boots with a duty paid value (DPV) of 923,040,000.
2) Three 40-feet containers containing 562,000 bottles of 100ml cough syrup with codeine, 24,480,000 tablets of Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride , 5,350,000 tablets of Tapentadol and Carisoprodol with a DPV of N17,432,000
3) Five 40-feet containers with 892,400 bottles of 100ml cough syrup with codeine. 1,300,000 tablets of 50mg Really Extra Diclofenac. 7,250,000 tablets of 5mg Trodol Benzhexol with a DPV of N8,128,568,295.
While the total value of the 12 seized containers is pegged at 31bn, the Comptroller General assured that the Service is committed to protecting the interests of legitimate businessmen while safeguarding the health and safety of Nigerians.
