Determined to curtail the activities of die- hard smugglers around the Free Port Zone, the Cross River/Akwa Ibom State command of the Nigeria Customs Service have confiscated about 13 trucks loaded with frozen chicken.
The Comptroller of the Free Port Zone, Cross River and Akwa-Ibom states command, Alhaji Hassan Mohammed Mundu who disclosed this while destroying some of the containers frozen chicken in Calabar placed the street value of the product at about N200 million.
Determined to curtail the activities of die- hard smugglers around the Free Port Zone, the Cross River/Akwa Ibom State command of the Nigeria Customs Service have confiscated about 13 trucks loaded with frozen chicken.
The Comptroller of the Free Port Zone, Cross River and Akwa-Ibom states command, Alhaji Hassan Mohammed Mundu who disclosed this while destroying some of the containers frozen chicken in Calabar placed the street value of the product at about N200 million.
Alhaji Mundu who conducted journalists round the dump site at Lemna Road, Ikot Effanga, in Calabar explained that a combined team of (NAFDAC), State Security Services, and Officials of the Cross River State Ministry of Health, Environment and representative of the Nigeria Police Force carried out the operation that led to the seizure of the products in line with their mandate.
Mundu explained that since March last year, more than 13 trucks of poultry products had been impounded by his command and attributed the delay in destroying the products to rigorous investigations carried out by his Command to ensure that genuine cases are established before the destruction was carried out.
He said, “What you are witnessing here today are part of the containers that have been detained by the Cross River and Akwa-Ibom state Command of the Nigerian Customs on suspicion that they are carrying Turkey and Chicken which are prohibited goods.”
According to him, his Command decided to carry out the destruction following series of complains from the health division of the Nigerian Port Authority, NPA, over the hazardous nature of the products to public health within the immediate community and it’s environ.
“I sought permission of the Comptroller General of Customs to allow me have them disposed of and it was graciously granted that is why we are here with other stakeholders in carrying out this exercise today,” he said.
The Custom boss said that investigations were on-going to bring the owners of the poultry products to book, stressing that it was among the prohibited products in the country and this is why the Customs is taking steps to impound them and have them destroyed.
He said, “Normally, when these things are impounded, we tend to investigate because the owner will say he is carrying fish, as you can see, they are actually poultry products and are in a very bad state and they have to be destroyed immediately.”
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