Customs intercepts strange Chinese Container in Lagos

ABIOLA Seun |

The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service strike force team yesterday said it has intercepted a container comprising of strange unidentified Chinese products and eatables.

This is coming few days after the South Korean ministry of food and drug safety cautioned Nigerians against the use of drugs imported from China, as they may contain human remains.

Recall that the South Korean Customs Service recently intercepted 2,751 drugs containing human remains imported into the country by some suspected Chinese nationals.

The drugs are alleged to boost stamina and cure diseases including cancer and diabetes.

The memo said the South Korean ministry discovered the drugs to contain millions of viruses which could prove harmful to human health.

The ministry issued this warning in a memo dated October 12 and directed to the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) and other agencies including the ministry of health, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the national security adviser (NSA) also received the memo.

However, conducting journalists round the seized container, which had earlier exited one of the Seaports in Lagos, the National coordinator of the CGC strike force team, Abdullahi Kirawa said the container comprised of items which are not known because they are written in Chinese language and cannot be interpreted.

According to him, the Customs Excise Management Act (CEMA), mandate the service to seize cargoes that labels are not written in English language which everyone understands.

Kirawa, a deputy Controller of Customs also disclosed that the service also discovered cooked soups that were imported into the country.

He wondered whether Nigeria has degenerated to a country where soup that can be locally and freshly prepared could be imported into the country.

The Customs boss furthermore, bemoaned the pots of soup and other eatable items imported, which could not be identified as a result of Chinese Language written on their packs and could pose serious dangers to human health.

His words, “Nigerians are hardworking people known for our marvellous delicacies. How can someone come and be importing stew into the country? The stew carefully conceived inside the container. I will advise that Nigerians should ignore egocentrism and embrace ethnocentrism.

“Our quest for foreign goods and items must be discouraged and we must work hard to embrace and patronise home made goods including our delicious stew that are prepared from our homes and not engage in this type of business.”

This type of soup posed serious dangers to public health, to economy and of course the employment to our teeming youths. If stew would be imported, then what else are we going to do? So this is something we need to reflect on.”

However, he said some other packed items that look like mushroom were already deteriorating in the container, saying this shows the dangers it would pose to human health when ingested or consumed.

Speaking on how to checkmate the menace of unhealthy importation of goods into the country, he said; “this calls for all hands and all Nigerians that this type of importation of goods must be discouraged. One of the things to use to solve this problem is public sensitization on the dangers of smuggling.

“Therefore, you and I must work hard to ensure that we spread this news to all nooks and crannies of this country for people to be aware that these are some of the things that pose dangers to their health and must be stopped. Then it must be totally condemned.”