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,,,,,, Generates N90.2bn in Q1 2025.
By Correspondent in Lagos.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), PTML Command, has intercepted dangerous ammunition smuggled into the country through imported vehicles, as part of its Q1 2025 anti-smuggling operations.
Disclosing this in Lagos during a management briefing on Tuesday, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Tenny Daniyan, revealed that officers uncovered 75 rounds of 12-gauge live cartridges concealed inside a used Toyota Tundra, with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N2.24 million.
In a separate bust, four rounds of 9mm ammunition and an empty magazine were seized from a Hyundai Sonata, also brought in through the port. The DPV of the seizure was put at N334,257.
“These items were cleverly hidden, clearly meant to evade detection and endanger national security,” Daniyan said. “But our officers remain vigilant.”
The seizures come amid a record revenue generation of N90.2 billion by the command in the first quarter of 2025—an increase from N66 billion recorded in Q1 2024, reflecting heightened activity at the nation’s busiest RoRo (Roll-on/Roll-off) terminal.
Daniyan noted that the increased inflow of cargo, especially with PTML now receiving vessels directly from China and Europe, has also heightened the risk of illicit goods entering the country.
“We’re not letting down our guard,” he stressed. “Despite rising trade volumes, enforcement remains tight.”
The Comptroller attributed the port’s improved surveillance and rapid cargo clearance to the deployment of the B’Odogwu transformation initiative, which has so far facilitated N189.5 billion in collections since its launch in October 2024.
Meanwhile, Daniyan called on stakeholders—particularly importers and clearing agents—to desist from criminal practices and make honest declarations.
He praised the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, for strengthening stakeholder engagement and inter-agency collaboration, which has helped the PTML Command reduce cargo clearance time to under an hour in some cases.
“These criminal attempts remind us that we must never compromise on vigilance,” Daniyan added.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
