By IGE ADEKUNLE

The Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun 1 Area Command, has dismissed the viral video on social media that the Idiroko border has been reopened for business activities as misleading.

The Area Comptroller, Mr Bamidele Makinde, made this known while addressing a news conference in Abeokuta on Tuesday.

Makinde stated that the Idiroko land border had been reopened for business since 2022.

The area comptroller explained that: “The Idiroko border alongside three others reopened in 2022 by the immediate past administration has continued to remain opened for legitimate trade.”

Makinde however warned that “anyone who does business in the unapproved route will be intercepted”.

Giving a scorecard of the command for the months of April and May, the comptroller said the command wielded its big stick on unscrupulous traders who engaged in illicit trade.

He confirmed that spectacular seizures included the seizure of three foreign used luxury buses.

Makinde explained that seizures were made with strategic deployment of intelligence across the state which resulted to having over N335 million as the duty paid value of the seizures recorded.

He listed other seizures recorded as 6,924 bags of smuggled par boiled rice of 50kg each, used tyres and cannabis sativa

Makinde put the total Duty Payable Value (DPV) of the seizures at N335,855,989.

He also disclosed that the command generated about N34.174 million compared to N10,615,618,00 collected in the corresponding period in 2022.

According to him, the figure showed a differential of N23,558,487,00, which is a significant increase of about 69 per cent. (NAN)

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