… Customs intercept N5.4m petrol along Seme, Badagry waterways***

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA) Apapa Port Special Area Command, Lagos State, has decorated its 54 newly promoted personnel and launched War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) in the area.

The newsmen report that WADA was officially launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in June with a mandate given to the Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig.- Gen. Buba Marwa to get rid of illicit drug in the country.

The Area Commander, Apapa Port Special Area, Assistant Commander – General of Narcotics (ACGN), Mr Bashir Gadzama, said at the launch on Thursday that the command embarked on the decoration and launch despite its busy operational activities.

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Gadzama said,” This decoration ceremony is coming to a little while after the release of promotion list some months ago.

“ The is because the command has remained a beehive of operational activities as a result of the streak of landmark drug seizures at the port.

“ This has left us with little or no time to hold the ceremony before now,” he said.
According to the Commander, 3, 506 personnel that cuts across all cadres wrote the promotion exams which the outcome lifted the personnel of Area.

“ Out of this number, 54 members of this Special Area benefitted from the promotion exercise.

“This singular action came after years of career stagnation.

“ This further rejuvenated vibrancy in the area where officers work round-the-clock, with results,” Gadzama said.

He, however, enjoined the promoted officers to sustain the new work spirit engendered by the promotion.

Speaking on WADA, he said the launch was to send appropriate signal to all actors in the illicit drug chain within the port and its environments.

“ This area has been appropriately motivated and given the mandate to crush any attempt to try our will for drug–free Nigeria.

“WADA aimed at sensitising the general populace on the dangers and consequences of illicit drug use and trafficking,“ he said.

He further expressed profound gratitude to the area personnel and other sister agencies who played modest success of the command.

The Lagos State NDLEA commander, Commander of Narcotics ( CN), Mr Alumona Callys, tasked the personnel to become undefeatable drug warlords.

“The Chief Executive ensured the promotion of 75 per cent of the personnel, much is expected,” Callys said.

The commander, Nigerian Customs Service, Apapa Area Command, Mr Yusuf Malanta, commended the command effort on the recent arrest of two vessels used to convey illicit drugs.

Malanta said that custom would continually collaborate with NDLEA to achieve a drug–free Nigeria.

One of the newly decorated officers, Nacortic Commander (NC), Mrs Mercy Thompson, who spoke on behalf of the newly promoted personnel commended the chairman of the agency and promised that the personnel would perform maximally.

In the meantime, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Command, has said it intercepted 1,050 jerry cans (30 litres) of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N5, 393,920:00 along Seme and Badagry creeks.

This is contained in a statement issued on Thursday in Seme, Badagry, Lagos State, by the spokesman of the command, Mr Hussain Abdullahi.

Abdullahi quoted the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Bello Jibo, as saying the interception was made possible owning to the commitment of his men in suppressing the activities of daredevil smugglers to the barest minimum.

Jibo said his officers and men of the Seme Area Command of NCS on Dec.1, intercepted large quantities of items suspected to be petroleum in sacks along the creeks and beaches within the Seme and Badagry axis.

“Upon examination, 1,050 jerry cans of 30litres each of petroleum products which is equivalent to 31,500 litres were discovered with DPV of N5, 393,902.00 only.

“The unfortunate scenario is that apart from sabotaging the efforts of Government that is paying huge amount of money to subsidise the products for the benefit of Nigerians, smuggling of petroleum also possess threats to their own lives and most times vehicles got burnt when an accident occurs,” he said

Jibo reiterated the commitment of officers and men of the Command to continue the fight against smuggling and their accomplices with a higher tempo.

He commended Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) and the Management team for logistical support by providing the Command with Four Hilux vehicles to boost it’s operations.

“Customs will continue to enforce federal Government policies with a view to suppress smuggling, collections of appropriate revenue and facilitation of legitimate trade,” he said.