The Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘C’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), said it has intercepted three trucks conveying six by 20 foot containers of logs of unprocessed wood.
Olusemire Kayode, zonal coordinator of the unit, who displayed the intercepted items at the zonal headquarters in Port Harcourt on Monday, disclosed that two suspects, who are presently on administrative bail, were arrested in connection with the seizure.
Stating that export of unprocessed timber contravenes schedule 6 of the Extant Common External Tariff (CET), Kayode said that deforestation comes with negative effects such as desert encroachment and environmental degradation.
According to him, when tree felling is not checked, the ecosystem and its biodiversity would suffer not to mention the economic loss of exporting unprocessed logs.
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He further stated that export of unprocessed wood also means loss of employment that would have benefited Nigerian youths.
He however commended Yusuf Lawal, controller of the zone and officers of the Unit for their resilience, doggedness and steadfastness in tackling smuggling even as he cautioned against senseless attacks on officers carrying out their legitimate duties.
Yusuf Lawal, controller of the Zone, said the woods were about to be smuggled out of the country without clearance from the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
He gave the marks and numbers of the containers to include MSCU-3470637, MSDU-1497355, MEDU-9739916, MEDU-5627573, MSDU-6248794 and MEDU-6792783.
“NEPC is an agency of government which takes note of products that are meant for export to ensure that the proceeds are repatriated. Unfortunately, NEPC was not aware of these woods and did not issued any Nigeria Export Proceeds form, which further confirms that the woods were about to be smuggled out,” he said.
