Customs Seek Agents’ Assistance in Curbing Tramadol Importation

• Customs Seek Agents’ Assistance in Curbing Tramadol Importation

The Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Zone A, Aminu Dahiru, has urged Customs agents to assist in curbing importation of Tramadol into the country.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of Tony Iju Nwabunike as the head of the National Executive Council of the Association of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Dahiru said that there was a need to stem the tide of Tramadol importation because the drug was destroying lives in Nigeria.

Tramadol is a very powerful painkiller and according to the spokesman for the NCS, Mr. Joseph Attah, the drug is found in use by terrorist organisations in the country.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reportedly issued a warning about the non-medical use of the synthetic opioid across West Africa.

It said that the rise in consumption and trafficking of the drug was serious, worrying and needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

The UNODC also estimated that yearly seizures of Tramadol in sub-Saharan Africa had risen from 300 kilogrammes to more than three tonnes since 2013.

Speaking further, Dahiru urged the brokers to always make sincere declarations with correct value, and less documentary alterations in order to facilitate trade and move Nigeria forward.

The event, according to a statement from the association, was witnessed by stakeholders in the maritime industry, well-wishers and some members of the National Customs Brokers Association of Liberia led by the President, Mr. Ivan Tumbey.