The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), is up for a showdown with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), over seizure of a consignment of rice it claimed to have bought from an open market. The students, said the men of the agency would have them to contend with if food stuffs meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), currently at the Customs Command in Ikeja, Lagos, are not released.
Bestman Okereafor, spokesman of the students, in a statement on Saturday, while claiming that the foodstuffs were purchased from Iddo Rice Market in Lagos State, questioned why the authorities would be more interested in grabbing items commonly sold at the open market, when they should prevent their entry into the country at the borders.
His words: “NANS will be considering occupying the customs office on Monday, Nov. 26, to demand justice for our Diaspora Zone.
“And not from outside Nigeria with receipt to the effect, contrary to what should have constituted an act of smuggling which is against the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as stipulated under section 147, 148 and 158 of the Customs Excise Management Act, Cap C4 LFN, 2004.
“The foodstuff items were bought for the purpose of donating them to IDPs camps in Maiduguri, Ogoja and Bakassi as our little way of complimenting the efforts of Federal Government, NGOs and other well-meaning Nigerians in caring for our brothers and sisters that are victims of insurgency and other internal crisis.
“Frantic efforts have been made and letter of appeal for the release written to the Comptroller in-charge of the Zonal command; follow up has been done as well and they are yet to grant our request by releasing these items so that we can use them for the intended purpose.
“As at yesterday, they have established that they seized the items on the stated date, in the process, it was discovered that the operation team that arrested the items offloaded the items, released the vehicle conveying the items to the driver.
“While the operation team under the command had mixed our items with a golf car that was arrested at Ibadan Toll-Gate with contraband so as to make it look like a smuggled goods.
“At the discovery of this, the Zonal Co-ordinator of customs told us that they will only give us a document to show that they seized the items but they cannot release them.
“The question now is, if rice and vegetable oil that were bought from a Nigeria market can be seized by customs as contraband, how did they enter into Nigeria and are being displayed for sale openly at Iddo Market, Lagos.”
Culled: Whirlwind News
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