by Nurat Uthman
The Nigeria Customs Service, on Tuesday, released to the owners 15 trucks loaded with grains intercepted last week at the Sokoto State border, en route to neighbouring countries.
The Customs said the trucks were intercepted along the Gwadabawa-Illela Road in Sokoto.
The spokesman for the Sokoto/Zamfara Area Command, NCS, Abdullahi Abubakar, in a statement on Tuesday, said the trucks were released to the owners in compliance with the directive of President Bola Tinubu.
According to the statement, the Comptroller of the Command, Kamal Mohammed, handed over the 15 grain trucks to their owners at the command’s headquarters in Sokoto.
Mohammed charged the traders to reciprocate the President’s magnanimity by ensuring that the grains get to Nigerian markets.
He said, “The management of the Nigeria Customs Service under the leadership of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, in their resolve to fight smuggling in all ramifications has added to the patrol fleet of the command.
“This will go a long way in making the border an unsafe haven for smugglers and unpatriotic merchants seeking to make money at the detriment of the country.”
In his response, the Secretary of the Grain Sellers Association of Sokoto, Alhaji Dahiru Ladan, on behalf of the union thanked President Tinubu for tempering justice with mercy and assured that the union would ensure the grains were sold to Nigerian markets.
