The Nigeria Customs Service, North Central Zone, Sector 3, Ilorin, Kwara State, has recovered a Toyota Land Cruiser Jeep belonging to a House of Representatives member from Rivers State, Hon Chidi Frank Nwiyoka.
The SUV was reportedly snatched at gunpoint in Abuja last year.
The customs said the vehicle with registration number KUJ 570 MB from Abuja heading to Kaduna was intercepted after operatives of the Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) deployed to Suleja axis in Niger State requested for its documents from its two occupants.
“Instead they disembarked, pretending to be making a call to the owner and ran into the bush abandoning the vehicle.
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“During a search, operatives found a complimentary card bearing details of a National Assembly member, Chidi Nwiyoka, who later said the vehicle was snatched from his driver at gun point around Gwarimpa axis of Abuja, when contacted.
“Once the customs duty is produced by and confirmed to be genuine, the sector will hand over the vehicle to the Police for further investigations and theft clarification”, Coordinator of JBPT, Olugboyega Peters, said while briefing newsmen on Monday on its activities for last year.
He said the command also recorded 187 seizures with a duty paid value of N302,590, 252.00.
Peters said items seized during the period under review include 4 trailer load of 50kg foreign parboiled rice (2,052 bags), 4,598 liters of PMS, 40 drums of 800 liters of diesel, 28 units of used vehicles, 16 units of motorcycle, 11 kegs of 25 liters vegetable oil, 102 bales of secondhand clothing and 19 Sacks of 2166 pairs of used shoes.
Others are 427 wraps of cannabis sativa (Indian hemp), 4 packet of 120mg Tramadol (200 pieces each), 90 pieces of used tyres and 39 cartons of tomato paste.
According to him, most of the inflammable products have been auctioned to the public and the funds remitted to government coffers in line with the extant laws.
Peters said the briefing was his last having been elevated as Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (ACG).
He said the command lost an officer, Saheed Aweda, last year October, after operatives were ambushed by hoodlums adding that 3 other officers who sustained life threatening injuries later recovered after a long stay at hospital.
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