LAGOS: The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) seized frozen poultry products worth over 12 million Naira during the first week of operation ‘Hawk Descend’ in the South Western area of the Nigeria-Benin border.
‘Hawk Descend’ is a new initiative to totally contain smuggling of frozen poultry into Nigeria, within the next three months.
The Deputy Comptroller General of Customs Enforcement, (DCG) Musa launched the operation recently in Lagos on behalf of the Comptroller General.
The seizures consist of 1,803 cartons of the banned products confiscated in the operation.
Most of the seizures were made when commercial vehicles conveying them were apprehended by Customs Officers. However, a significant number were made on the Iyafin Badagry waterways on the lagoon that stretches through the Nigeria-Benin Border.
The breakdown of the seizure made showed that Federal Operations Unit had 975 cartons; Seme Command seized 461 cartons; Oyo/Osun Command got 247 cartons and the Western marine Command impounded 110 cartons.
Assessing the first week of the operation, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Diko Inde Abdullahi acknowledged the support of border communities in helping with the seizures. He commended them for providing customs patrol officers with reliable intelligence about the activities of poultry smugglers and cold room operators.
He urged hotel and restaurant owners, fast food outlet operators and barbecue sellers to shun smuggled chicken, noting that the protection of the Nigerian poultry sector is the responsibility of all.
