Two of the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) officers were slain in the line of duty in 2022, according to a statement made yesterday by the Katsina Area Command.
This was said by the Command’s departing Area controller, Mr. Wada Chedi, at a gratitude and farewell event organized in his honor at the Command’s headquarters.
Chedi, who was relocated to Port Harcourt, would be replaced by Mr. Musa Nura, another controller.
He said that during that time, the Command had detained 10 people, some of whom had faced charges before the Federal High Court and others had received administrative bail.
Chedi reported that the Command was able to make 379 arrests, 258 of which were later turned into seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N144.75m following a comprehensive investigation.
The imported vegetable oil, spaghetti, worn clothing, and trucks used to transport the illicit goods were among the items recovered, he continued.
He claimed that the Command completed 49 self-contained apartments for its staff housing and that it was able to advance 4,958 officers and men to the next rank.
The outgoing controller requested that all parties give the incoming controller the same level of cooperation that he got while managing the Katsina Command’s operations.
According to him, the Command recorded a Free-On-Board (FOB) value of N4.42 billion for non-oil commodities with metric tons of 69,436.77 exported through the Jibia-Magama border station. This was done to facilitate export trade.
Heads of sister security agencies were present for the occasion, which presented awards to deserving customs agents.