Nigerians have natural tendency to commit crime, says Customs CG, Col Hameed Ali

The Comptroller General, of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col Hameed Ali(retd), has lamented the continued incidents of smuggling in the country despite the border closure.

Punch Newspaper reports that he decried that rice and other prohibited goods still found their way into Nigeria.

This is as Ali said the NSC has intercepted smuggled Pangolin scales valued at N10.26bn.

Ali disclosed this in Lagos on Tuesday while informing the media about the seizure of $8.06m cash off the tarmac at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed airport. 

Ali said the Pangolin scales were intercepted along the Isheri axis of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

He noted that Pangolin was a highly endangered species and international law prohibited its trade in any form.

According to him, the price of the scales, which goes for $3000 per kilo was the reason it was irresistible to smugglers.

He said, “The fact that we have border closure and people still bring rice and other items into the country shows that our people have the natural tendency to commit crime.

“We need the cooperation of the media and the general public to get the right information that would help us do our job because Customs are not magicians.

“Before you know it, illicit drugs, weapons, and other dangerous materials will come in and your children and relations will become victims of these dangerous items.”