Customs raid Frasier hotel, impound 11 vehicles in Abuja – TheNigerialawyer

Guests and staff members of Frasier Suites, Central Business
District, Abuja were thrown into confusion on Wednesday night when
men of the Nigeria Customs Service embarked on a raid of the hotel,
Punch report.

One of our correspondents who visited the scene observed three
customs patrol vehicles marked Zone B, Federal Operation Unit and
Strike Force Unit blocking the entrance to the hotel.

The armed operatives numbering over 12 impounded 11 vehicles
which were mainly Toyota, Lexus and Mercedes Benz.

The vehicles were also said not to have customs duty
documents.

Some of them include a black Toyota Prado SUV with number
Rsh500R; a Benz SUV marked Gwa665RZ; a Lexus SUV marked Eky650FA; a
Benz E Class with number ABC 592 TM and a Toyota Prado marked Abj
704CH.

Top management employees of the hotel could be seen pleading
with customs officers to please move away from the gate.

The adamant customs officials were said to be acting under the
instruction of the comptroller of the unit.

A customs officer who spoke to The PUNCH on the condition of
anonymity said they received a tip off from an informant that
hotels had become the new warehouse for vehicles without duty.

He said, “We learnt that when we turned up the heat on car
marts, many of these smugglers started hiding their vehicles in
hotels.

“We discovered 11 exotic vehicles with unpaid duties running
into millions of naira were kept in the hotel.

“It was gathered that the service also stormed some car marts
and a few state liaison offfices where they believed smuggled cars
were being kept.

A top source at Fraiser Suite disclosed that four high end
vehicles were seen at the hotel premises, adding that the owners
were summoned to provide the original documents of the
vehicles.

The source said, “The Customs gave the hotel management notice
about the operation. They tracked down four luxury cars to the
hotel premises and the owners were asked to provide the original
papers showing that the necessary duties were paid on the cars.

“One of the vehicles belonged to a regular guest at the hotel
while two others belonged to the accounting firm of Deloitte &
Touche (formerly Akintola Williams Deloitte).”

Findings by our correspondent also indicate that the Customs
operatives had also raided some car marts in the Federal Capital
Territory, but the number of sealed showrooms could not be
immediately ascertained.

The service had reportedly sealed car marts in Kaduna and Sokoto
States on Monday, as part of the clampdown on smuggling through the
land borders by the Federal Government.

The Comptroller-General’s Strike Force and officers attached to
the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ in Ikeja had similarly raided
and sealed car dealers’ offices in Lagos.

An eyewitness who is currently on ground at the hotel, Imo
Ugochinyere, has narrated the ordeals of the hotel’s guests in the
hands of the armed officials of the NCS.

Ugochinyere, who is the national spokesman of the Coalition of
United Political Parties, in a message sent to one of our
correspondents said some diplomats and military men lodged in the
hotel were blocked from leaving or entering the hotel because of
the siege.

He wrote, “Customs men have invaded Fraser Suite Abuja and
sealed it, blocking diplomats and guests from coming in or going
out.

“The affected guests include some soldiers who are lodging in
the place.

“They are harassing guests and ordering hotel workers to wake
guests up from sleep to identify their cars.

“Such barbaric actions have never been seen even during Abacha
days.

“I am on ground there now.”