NSCDC impounds 292 bags of smuggled rice

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has impounded 292 bags of foreign rice illegally imported into the country.

This is according to a statement by NSCDC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Babatunde Afolabi, on Friday in Abuja.

According to Afolabi, three suspects were arrested in connection to the crime on their way from Cotonou, Benin Republic to Lagos while conveying the products with three wooden boats.

He said that they were intercepted by operatives of the NSCDC Commandant General’s marine monitoring team based on credible intelligence made available to the team.

The PRO said that the NSCDC boss, Dr Ahmed Audi, had directed that the suspects and exhibits be handed over to the Nigeria Customs Service for prosecution.

He said that this was in line with the extant laws of the land after preliminary investigations were concluded.

Afolabi said that the NSCDC boss had assured that the corps would continue to pursue its statutory functions of protection of critical national assets and infrastructure and continue in its fight against insecurity.

He reiterated the corps' commitment to continued proactive and tactical patrol both on land and sea to forestall all forms of smuggling, make the country’s waterways safe and enhance the economic prosperity of the country.

Audi said that the Corps would continue to collaborate with other security agencies to intensify the fight against crime and criminality in the country.