A boat carrying eighty bags of rice allegedly smuggled into the country from Benin Republic through water ways has been intercepted by the Nigerian Navy.

Operatives attached to the Navy Forward Operation Base, Badagry, intercepted a wooden boat being used to ferry the bags of rice at the Iyana-Ipaahi water ways around the Badagry creeks.

Commanding Officer, Forward Operation Base, Badagry, Captain Abdulhakeem Ojebode, who handed over the seized bags of rice to the personnel of the Nigerian Customs, said the suspects of the boat fled on sighting the operatives.

Ojebode said the suspects abandoned the commodity and the boat and jumped into the river on sighting the Navy Patrol Vessel, saying the operation goes in line with the roles of the Navy to protect the territorial waters of Nigeria.

According to him, the operation also goes in line in supporting the Nigerian Customs in its duty of ensuring that smugglers don’t use our waterways to bring items adjudged contraband into Nigeria, stressing that he and his officers would not rest but put in more efforts in the fight against smuggling in the country so as to checkmate this vice.

Deputy Comptroller Enforcement, Western Marine Command, Nigerian Customs, Usman Abubakar, commended the efforts of the navy in checking criminality on the nation’s waterways, appealing for continuous assistance from the navy to reduce smuggling to the barest minimum in the country,” Abubakar said.

He warned smugglers to desist from sabotaging the efforts of the government in revamping the economy, saying his command would not relent in dealing with persons who decide to test the will of the customs and other security agencies.