Kwara Customs hands over recovered stolen vehicles to police
By Mahmood Olayinka Alaya
The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday handed over suspected stolen vehicles intercepted by officers and men of the command to the Nigeria police force.
The Command’s Area Controller, Comptroller Kehinde Dehinde Ilesanmi made this known during the handing over of the stolen vehicles to the police at custom’s office in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.
He said “ the Command on the 14th of June, 2023 intercepted one 2010 model Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Jeep with Chassis number JIEBXJOAKOO7069 and Registration Number EPE 911 HH at Chikanda Border post in Kusobosu Local Government Area of the State and during the course of investigation, it was discovered that the registration number belonged to a Toyota Hiace Bus which heightened the curiosity of the officer after the vehicle was detained”
“ During the course of investigation, it was discovered that the registration number of the said vehicle belonged to a Toyota Hiace Bus. This is what heightened the curiosity of our officers and the vehicle was detained.
“In what looked like a drama, on Sunday the 16th of July, 2023 exactly 30 days after, at about 1430hrs which is 2:30pm our officers’ yet again intercepted one used Toyota Hiace Bus with Chassis Number TRH200155105 in Chikanda heading towards Benin Republic. Surprisingly, the same registration number EPE-911- HH which the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Jeep earlier intercepted had was displayed as the registration number.
“After preliminary investigation by our enforcement and legal unit, it was established that the two vehicles were stolen. In the spirit of inter agency collaboration, the approval of CGC was sought and received to hand over the two vehicles to Nigerian Police Force for continuation of investigation.
“In order to carry out directives of the CGC and for all our friends in the media to be part of history, we decided to invite the Commissioner of Police Lagos State where the offence was committed for the handing over and taking over of the vehicles,” Ilesanmi explained.
Similarly, Comptroller Ilesanmi revealed that the command recorded fifteen seizures which include over three hundred bags of foreign par boiled rice of fifty kilograms each and over one thousand liters of PMS of twenty-five liters each in seventy-five Jeri cans, while the Duty Paid Value of the seizures during the period review is eleven million m, one hundred and forty nine thousand, six hundred and thirty-six naira.
He also disclosed that the Command generated five billion, nine hundred and ninety-two million, three hundred thousand, five hundred and sixty-two naira, seventy-three kobo which surpassed what was generated same period last year with over three hundred million naira increase.
Comptroller Ilesanmi therefore appreciated the Controller General of Custom, Bashir Adeniyi and his management for giving the command additional four patrol vehicle that would assist the command to achieve great result.
While noting that the Command is duty bound to ensure that illegitimate trade does not thrive in the state, the Area Controller warned those who want to use the yuletide period to make money to think twice as his officers have been ensuring aggressive patrol of the command’s areas to deny smugglers their freedom.
END
