TheCable

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Murtala Muhammed Airport Command in Lagos, says it generated N47.25 billion from January to July 2023.

Muhammed Yusuf, the command’s controller, spoke at a media briefing on the scorecard of the command for the seven-month period.

Addressing the journalists in Lagos on Thursday, Yusif said the revenue yielded, represents 83.24 percent of the current year’s target.

 “When compared to the same period in 2022 of N40.33 billion, a progressive difference of N6.91 billion, representing a 17.14 percent increase,” he said.

Yusuf said the command intercepted items suspected to be dried shark fins and dried donkey genitals worth N1.22 billion at the Lagos airport.

He said the items were blocked through coordinated anti-smuggling activities in synergy with critical stakeholders.

The command controller said one suspect was apprehended for the seized items, noting that investigations were ongoing.

He added that the suspect intercepted for the shark fins was a Nigerian and that the item was heading to China.

Yusuf said the smuggler for the donkey genitals was a Chinese heading to Hong Kong.

Providing a breakdown of the items, the customs boss said six packages of suspected dried shark fins have a free on board (FOB) value of N221.9 million, while the 25 packages of donkey genitals have an FOB value of N1.01 billion, both totalling N1.23 billion.

“These items were seized mainly because of various forms of infractions on export guidelines and failure to comply with CITES law on endangered species as enshrined in the NCS Act,” he said.

“From the number of fins we have here, the implication is that we have over a thousand sharks that have been endangered. We cannot go on with this illegal trade because, at the end of the day, it will be a problem for us.

“Animals in the sea have a role they play, endangering them will affect the ecosystem and for us officers at the NCS, we will always make sure that these items under the export prohibition list cannot go out.”

Yusuf added that this was the first time the command intercepted such and it was nabbed at the exit point after all documentation.

He said the shark fin was declared as such while that of the donkey genitals was declared as animal cow genitals.

The items, according to Yusuf, would be handed over to a unit in customs for further investigation.

Yusuf also appreciated the officers and men of the command for their dedication to the service and urged them to always adhere strictly to the rules of engagements while discharging their statutory duties.