Justice Abimbola Awogboro of a Federal High Court, Lagos has granted an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) from further invading and sealing off the business premises of the members of the Registered Trustees of Auto Dealers in Lagos.
The court stopped the NCS from invading and sealing off the premises of car dealers and owners in Lagos on the grounds that the vehicles in their car shops, which had earlier been inspected, assessed and cleared at the port by officers of the defendant, were not properly inspected, assessed and cleared.
Justice Awogboro in her judgment delivered on December 27, 2023 granted the major reliefs sought by the plaintiff, the Registered Trustees of Auto Dealers in Lagos, in suit no FHC/L/CS/665/2021.
The court in the matter first dealt with the issue of jurisdiction and held that the only way of proving that an entity is registered is by providing a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation, which the plaintiff has provided and the argument of whether it sued as a registered trustees instead of an incorporated trustee is of no consequence.
The court thereafter in favour of the plaintiffs, issued an order of mandatory injunction directing the defendants to, with immediate effect, unseal the business premises of all members of the plaintiff, which were unlawfully and arbitrarily sealed off by officials of the defendants since September 30, 2019.
Justice Awogboro ordered the NCS to pay the plaintiff a sum of N500 million as general and aggravated damages for the arbitrary and unlawful invasion and sealing off of the plaintiff’s members’ business premises since September 30, 2019, and for the huge economic loss and depreciation in business fortunes of members of the plaintiff on account of the unlawful sealing off of their business premises and interest on the judgment sum at the prevailing monetary policy rate (Central Bank of Nigeria rate) from the date of judgment until judgment sum is fully liquidated.
Sometime in September 2019 some officers of the NCS invaded and sealed off several car shops all over the country on the grounds that those cars were either smuggled or under- assessed during clearance at the ports.
The Registered Trustees of Auto Dealers in Lagos, through their counsel, Dr Monday Ubani, had in a letter to the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, condemned the September 30, 2019 raid and sealing off of their shops by its operatives, describing the action as “demonstration of gross irresponsibility, unprecedented impunity and abuse of power.”
The dealers claimed that all the cars on their business premises were duly cleared and with appropriate duties paid. The law firm also forwarded copies of the letter, which also served as a pre-action notice to the Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives and the Attorney General of the Federation, describing the action of the officers of the NCS as a demonstration of gross irresponsibility, unprecedented impunity and abuse of power.
Following the failure of the NCS to pay compensation of N10billion after 30 days of receipt of the letter, the Registered Trustees of Auto Dealers in Lagos filed the suit no:FHC/L/CS/665/2021, asking the court to determine a number of questions including : “Whether the defendants have any power, authority or justification to invade and seal off the plaintiff’s members’ respective business premises, on the grounds that the plaintiff’s’ members’ vehicles were smuggled, which allegation they later abandoned for another allegation – that the vehicles were not properly assessed and cleared by the designated defendants’ officers at the Port, and demanding the plaintiff’s’ members’ to come to the defendants office with their vehicle Customs clearance documents, which documents were issued to the plaintiff’s’ members’ by officials of the defendants after duly inspecting, assessing and clearing their vehicles at the port?
”Whether the defendants, after their officials had inspected, assessed and cleared the plaintiff’s’ members’ vehicles at the port, have any right, justification, power or semblance of power to intercept the same vehicles on the road (in transit), or at the car shop and detain same for a re-assessment known as Debit Note (DN) on the grounds that they were not properly assessed and cleared by their officers, and thereby demanding payment of additional duty from the plaintiff’s’ members.”
The plaintiff also sought the following reliefs against the defendants including : “a declaration that having duly inspected, cleared and issued the required Customs clearance papers to members of the plaintiff at the port, and the plaintiff members having paid the fee (Customs Duty) as duly assessed and demanded by officers of the defendants, the defendants have no power, authority or justification to thereafter invade and seal off the same plaintiff’s’ members business premises, on the grounds that the plaintiff’s’ members’ vehicle were (smuggled or) not properly assessed and cleared by the designated officers of the defendant.
“A declaration that the defendants’ directive to the plaintiff’s’ members to come to the defendants office with their vehicle Customs clearance documents for re-assessment and re-clearance, and directing their officers to raise a Debit Note (DN) to that effect is unwarranted, unjustified and unlawful.
“A declaration that the defendants, after their officials had inspected and cleared the Plaintiff members’ vehicles at the Port, have no right, justification, power or semblance of power to intercept the same vehicles on the road (in transit) and detain them on the ground that they were not properly cleared, and thereby demanding payment of additional money from the Plaintiffs or their Customers.
“A declaration that the invasion and sealing off of the Plaintiff members’ respective business premises since the 30th day of September, 2019 on the ground that the Plaintiff members vehicles were not properly cleared, and demanding the Plaintiff members to come to the Defendants’ office with their Vehicle Customs clearance documents for inspection and re-assessment (which documents were issued to the Plaintiff’s members by the officials of the Defendants after duly inspecting and clearing the said vehicles at the port) is unlawful and unjustified.
“A declaration that the practice of intercepting the Plaintiffs members vehicles by officials of the Defendants on the road (in transit) and detained on the ground that they were not properly assessed and cleared, and thereby demanding payment of additional money from the Plaintiff’s members or directing them to raise Debit Note (DN) to that effect is unwarranted, unjustified, and unlawful.”
During trial, the defendant admitted sealing off 434 car marts/shops of the plaintiff’s members in Lagos on suspicion of non-compliance with Customs Procedure, and informed the court that some of the plaintiff’s members have complied with their directive by making undertaking to make the additional payment, and the car mart of those members have been unsealed.
The defendants in their defence also alleged that the plaintiff’s Vehicles were smuggled, but the plaintiff denied it and stated that there were no smuggled vehicles found in the car shops of any of its members visited and sealed by the defendants’ officers.
Following the defendants’ request, the plaintiff’s members submitted their import and clearing documents for their vehicles, and after two weeks of check in the Defendants’ system, the Plaintiffs were informed by the Defendants’ officers that the issue was no longer smuggling, but false declaration and underpayment
The plaintiff responded that its members were coerced and induced by the defendant into executing undertakings for additional duty payment under duress in the office of the defendants.
The Plaintiff further informed the court that there couldn’t have been underpayment/undervalue when the Plaintiff’s members’ vehicles were duly and physically inspected by the senior customs officers, some of them at the level of Deputy Comptroller, who signed and authorized the release order, and that no Importer/Dealer sees the imported vehicles until the clearing process has been concluded by the Customs, and by which time all the necessary charges have been taken care of by the Importer/Dealer.
The plaintiff said all payments made by its members were in accordance with the Defendants’ valuation and directive which precedes the signing of the release order.
The plaintiff further informed the court that what its members pay was what they were asked to pay which is programmed in the defendants’ system. The amount given to the plaintiff members to pay is what the defendants’ system accepts, which is called Automated Assessment.
The plaintiff further informed the Court that the defendants’ officers are in the habit of stopping, checking, harassing and extorting money from its members’ customers after they drive out into town with their purchased vehicles, and this negatively affects their business, and that when its members’ customers call them to inform them of the harassment by the Defendants’ officers on the road, they usually intervene and inform the harassing officers that the necessary Duties on such vehicles have been paid, but the harassing Defendants’ officers would usually respond with the slogan “Senior Officer Release, Junior Officer seize”.
