Pascal Arogorn Ibe
…Allege removal of bags of rice, money-savers, cash
Barely one week after the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd) directed his men to storm warehouses and markets in search of smuggled foreign rice, the Relief Market in Owerri was over the weekend invaded by the operatives in a midnight raid.
This was disclosed to newsmen by traders of the Relief Market, Owerri.
The traders complained of the nocturnal operation of suspected NCS operatives in the market.
But the Nigeria Customs Service, FOU Zone C, Owerri have denied raid saying their command did not embark on any raid of any market.
Rice sellers in the market however alleged that men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) believed to have been deployed from the Federal Operating Unit Zone C, broke into shops and warehouses and carted away bags of rice particularly foreign rice around the midnight hours, last weekend
Lamenting their woes, the traders alleged that the said NCS operatives damaged padlocks and doors of over fifteen shops located inside Relief Market while carting away more than 1500 bags of rice.
A few of the traders also accused the operatives of taking away their private tills (saves) where they kept the proceeds of their weekend sales.
One of the market security men who was referred to as ‘Eben’ averred that the NCS operatives raided the market at about 1.00 am with about four trucks.
A rice dealer who also craved anonymity confided in newsmen that he equally lost bags of rice to the nocturnal invasion.
He said, “I was in my house around 1.45 am, when one of the security men in the market who is an Hausa man, called me that some customs men came to the market and forced their way into the market. They broke into about fifteen shops including my own and left with up to four truckloads of rice.”
When contacted, the Public Relations Officers, Nigeria Customs Service, FOU Zone C, Owerri, Jerry Attah was contacted, he dismissed the allegations, saying that no such operation was carried out by operatives under their unit in Owerri.
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