Sokoto State Area Command of the Nigerian Customs Service yesterday cleared the air on the controversy surrounding the des-truction of 1,050 cartons of frozen fish last week.
The consignment worth N20m which was intercepted at the Nige-ria/Benin Republic border at Kamba, Kebbi State, was destroyed and buried along Barkeji area of Sokoto.
Residents of the state were alarmed by the exercise, as many of them insisted that the fish were destroyed because they had contracted the Ebola virus. But at a press briefing yesterday,
Zonal Comptroller of the Customs, Ahmed Isiyaku, said the consignment was destroyed for contravening procedure of impor-tation, not because it contained anything harmful to the public.
“The destruction generated panic in certain quarters as residents associating the fish to Ebola disease.
I wish to use this medium to state that the frozen fish was not associated to any disease. That fish was destroyed because the importer completely contravened the laws on fish importation,” he said.
On the allegation by the care-taker chairman of Wamakko Local Government Area, that they were not informed about the exercise, the zonal comptroller said there was no law requiring them to notify the local authority of such an exercise.
“I am not aware of such a law, but if that is what is required in the state, then we will start notifying them,” he said.
Isiyaku added that the Area Command intercepted 600 cartons of cigarettes worth N73.4 million along Gusau-Tsafe road.
-@Daily Trust
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