The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted 42 drums of calcium carbide smuggled into the country from neighbouring Benin Republic.
Experts have warned of the dire consequences of such dangerous materials finding its ways into the hands of rogue elements.
The Customs stated that calcium carbide can be used as explosives to bring down a building if mixed with other chemical components.
Acting Customs Area Controller of the unit, Compt. Usman Yahaya, told journalists that aside calcium carbide, the unit also seized contraband worth N3.1billion, raised Demand Notice (DN) worth N242 million.
Yahaya affirmed that the service is backed by section 158 of Customs Excise and Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN 2004 as amended to patrol and search everywhere without restrictions while section 147 of the same CEMA empowers the service to enter any premises without search warrant provided there is credible information about contraband deposited there in.
The CAC who said the unit acted based on credible intelligence added that the explosives were smuggled into the country through the porous borders under the Ogun state command of the service.
He said, “We intercepted the 42 drums of calcium carbide through intelligence gathering. The contrabands were in a truck and concealed with cassava tubers and flakes. They thought with the concealment, they can evade the eagle eye of our officers.
“The explosives were intercepted at Sango – Ota axis and then, we know the items are coming from Benin Republic through the unapproved routes. Calcium carbide is on the list of contrabands because it is dangerous to the nation if it gets to the hands of bad elements.”
Yahaya added that the unit has set up investigation to know where the explosives are headed but was certainly meant for a dangerous adventure.
“The calcium cabide weight 106KG in 42 drums with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N105million. I can assure you that the smugglers have no good intention because if they did, they wouldn’t have concealed and smuggled it through the border.
“Everyone should be worried about smuggling because it begets unemployment, drug addiction, criminality, proliferating of light and small arms, substandard goods, and so on. You can imagine what would have happened if 42 drums of Carbide (explosives) had entered wrong hands,” he said.
Speaking further, the CAC said the unit also intercepted 1,488 kegs (equivalent of 33,000 litres) of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) set to be smuggled out of the country to neighboring Benin Republic.
He said other seizures range from bags of rice, Indian hemp, textiles material, cartons of tramadol, second hand clothing among others.
He said, “Within the period of 9th February, 2021 till date, the Unit recorded seizures of 20,538 bags of foreign parboiled rice; 3,106 cartons of frozen poultry product; 1,488 kegs of PMS at 25 litres each and 1,035 bales of second-hand clothing,” he said.
