The Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’, of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), with headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos has said it arrested five suspects over a massive haul of 1955 bales of used clothing and other contraband.
It revealed the clothing was discovered and evacuated around the International Trade Fair Complex, Mile 2-Badagry Expressway axis of Lagos State.
Ag. Comptroller Hussein Ejibunu in charge of the Unit, who disclosed this to journalists in Lagos on Wednesday said the used clothes were capable of transmitting the deadly Monkey Pox and other skin infections, besides economic sabotage.
He disclosed that five suspects were arrested in connection with some of the seizures.
He also disclosed that the Federal High Court had convicted six persons in three criminal cases over possession of smuggled goods, while six civil suits against the unit were dismissed for lack of merit.
He said the total Duty Paid Value (DPV) for the seizures made within the month of September 2022, was N622.4 million, while the sum of N107.8 million was recovered through Debit Notes(DN) on under-payments and under-declarations.
According to Ejibunu, chief among the seizures in September were the 1,955 bales of used clothing, which were discovered and evacuated “on the strength of combined strategies of intelligence, tact and enforcement.
“Also, a large cache of premium motor spirit (PMS) ingeniously concealed in sacks was intercepted at the Badagry axis of Lagos State. Others include 7,328 x 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice, 21,550 litres of premium motor spirit and 68 cartons of frozen poultry.
There were also 37 crates of eggs used to conceal rice, 150kg parcels of Indian hemp, 10 pieces of military camouflage bags, six used cars (tokunbo), one pump action rifle, two locally-made guns and 35 live cartridges.
Referring to the clothes, he said it was “the highest single seizure of used clothing made by the service this year, and we have commenced investigations to know those behind this massive importation, and at what entry point these clothes came into the country.
“Used clothing in commercial quantity falls under absolute prohibition. They have been seized and we are on the trail of the smugglers. The smuggling of used clothes has economic and health implications for our people.
“The government in its wisdom wants the local textile industry to enjoy the protection and create more jobs for Nigerians from the cotton farms, through the textile and garment factories, to our markets.
“The very serious health implication of this act of textile smuggling is the exposure of users to skin diseases like scabies and fungal diseases, which can be transmitted by wearing unwashed second-hand clothes.
“This is coming at a time the world is wary of monkeypox, which mode of transmission includes clothing.
According to a World Health Organisation fact sheet, Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.
