From Ankeli Emmanuel, Sokoto
Officers and men of the Nigerian Customs Service, Sokoto/Zamfara Command have rejected N1.5 million bribe offered by suspected railway track vandals and arrested them.
Making this known at a press conference, Comptroller of Customs, Sokoto/Zamfara Commands, Kamal Muhammed, said his men clamped down on a notorious cartel that specializes in the vandalisation of railway tracks alongside a truck conveying a 20-foot container laden with vandalized railway tracks on the 8th of June this year.
Muhammed, who noted that on interrogation, the suspects could not tender evidence of allocation from the Federal Ministry of Transport, made an overture to bribe the officers with N1.5m and gave advance cash offer of N300, 000.
He added that three other suspects were also intercepted by the command’s monitoring team at Kajiji along Kebbi Road.
Muhammed said: “Out of patriotism and integrity, the officers chose the path of honour by detaining them at the command headquarters.
“As we are all aware, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence is the agency mandated to secure critical national assets, conforming with the collaboration policy thrust of the CGC, the Area Command will hand over the suspects, the truck, and its content and the N300,000cash to the Commander NSCDC Sokoto Command who is here with us for further investigation and prosecution”
Comptroller Muhammed noted that, in compliance with the orders of the Comptroller General of Customs to seal up routes used by smugglers, officers of the whirlwind tactical team intercepted 11,270 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) being transported outside the country.
His words: “In compliance with the Comptroller General of Customs matching order to seal up all routes used for the smuggling of petroleum products, the Zone ” B” whirlwind tactical team with reinforcement by Officers and men of Sokoto/Zamfara Area Command intercepted 11, 270litrea of Premium Motor Spirit popularly called petrol.
“The maritime and cross border smuggling of PMS hurts the overall supply chain of the product in addition to the possibility of funding of criminal activities with the proceeds.
“Even with the removal of subsidy, the smuggling of PMS brings about extra cost burden on the country both in terms of security of supply and securing of the scarce foreign exchange used to import the product.”
However, Muhammed assuredthat the command will auction 11,270 litres of Petrol at the rate of N180 per litre to the general public in Sokoto.
“In line with the extant laws and the approval by the Comptroller General of Customs, the seized PMS will be auctioned to the general public today at a token of 180 naira per litre, ” he stated
Reacting to the development, motorists who queued up for the product said they were happy with the level of transparency displayed in the sales of the seized petroleum products by the Sokoto Customs.
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