A Chinese businessman, Mr DingShaw and his Nigerian friend, Mr Ifeanyi Dike, have been arrested by the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone 'A', an anti-smuggling arm of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), over their alleged attempt to export a container load of scrap metal through the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) in Apapa.The seizure of the prohibited cargo with a street value of about N18 million was intercepted on its way to being exported to China.Explaining the reason behind the arrest of the Chinese, the Head of the FOU in Ikeja, Lagos, Mr Victor Dimka told newsmen that his officers effected the arrest because of the illegality of the transaction.'It is illegal and a violation of schedule 6, item 5 on the Export Prohibition List of the Nigeria Customs Service,' observed Dimka, explaining that he owed the success of the timely arrest to a tip-off by a concerned industry watcher, noting that his officers trailed the container and the suspects to a company located in Ikorodu, Lagos where they put together metal scraps, before finally effecting their arrest at Apapa.Dimka highlighted that the Nigerian, Ifeanyi Dike was recruited to help in sourcing for the metal scraps, aluminum and such from all over the country, while the Chinese, Ding Shaw, is a representative of the recipient company in China who monitors the exportation of the items.If you use this locally, you can take it to the smelting companies that will use it locally for the benefit of manufacturing, but as the government has pronounced them banned, then you have no business exporting them,' he stated further, adding that the suspects had on them N745, 000 and some amount of Chinese currency which they intended to bribe their way out of the port.'The money has also been confiscated by the Custom as evidence for the law court and the suspects will also be arraigned soon' he said, and warned potential smugglers to seek for legitimate means of earning a living.'We want to tell Nigerians that it is not business as usual, if you think you can circumvent the law of the land you have the Nigeria Customs Service under the able leadership of Abdullahi Inde Dikko to contend with, we will stop at nothing to see that we bring them to book, they did not break the law with impunity alone, they even went as far as offering bribe of N745,000' he indicated, remarking that the continuous illegal exportation of junks as a gesture would no doubt deprive the manufacturers' associations and the owners of smelting companies of legitimate jobs.In his own defence, the Nigerian, Mr. Dike who claimed ignorance of the exportation of the items, saying he was recruited, strictly to source for the materials only, also said he spoke 'Chinese fluently' because he had lived there for two years.'My Chinese friend here told me that there is a company or a friend of his that wanted these scraps; I went to Owode-onirin and I saw where they are selling these metals, he told me that my job is to source the items and not exportation, so I did not even know anything whatsoever about the whole thing', he concluded.Meanwhile, an attempt to illegally smuggle in some quantity of double barrel bullets into the country was last week frustrated, as the FOU operatives impounded the item, along with the vehicle used to convey them, along the Iseyin Shaki Road.Also impounded was another vehicle loaded with 386 bales of foreign textiles materials in addition to 329 bales of 'ankara' wax all of which Duty Paid Value DPV was at N132 million. A suspect was arrested along with the prohibited items.No arrest was however made after the officers of the Service swooped on smugglers who deal on imported shoes, using the Badagry creeks as they all jumped inside the water and swam to safety.
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