For over two years, over 5,000 seized vehicles and containers have been kept in bonded warehouses in Lagos, Seme and Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Importers are blaming bureaucracy for the delay in releasing the goods. They are asking the government to intervene in the matter. Maritime Correspondent OLUWAKEMI DAUDA writes.
When will the over 5,000 seized vehicles and containers kept in bonded warehouses in Lagos, Seme and Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, be auctioned? The N3 billion goods were seized over two years ago by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) operatives. The importers are seeking the help of the Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun and the Customs Comptroller-General (CCG) Col. Hameed Ali to get the goods released or auctioned.
The importers believe that there is no better time than now to auction the goods. This, to them, is the surest way to fight corruption, and also do justice. They argue that the auction proceeds could be used for development.
Over 2,000 of the container-laden trucks are in bonded warehouses in Ikeja, 1,500 others are in Seme.
Among the seized items are trailers, Toyota Camry, Avensis, Corolla, Highlander Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV), Audi, Lexus SUVs, Altima, Jetta, Mazda, Primera, Peugeot, Hummer SUV, buses. Other are containers with various types of goods including teak wood.
It was discovered that some of the vehicles were seized from smugglers, others were impounded from their owners on the road because the importers alleged failure to pay Customs duty.
A senior Customs officer who asked not to be named, told The Nation that some of the vehicles have been in the warehouses for over two years.
Huge money, the official said, would have been realised if the public was allowed to buy them.
Sources said the goods may not be auctioned soon because the Customs’ commands are not making such request.
Other items in the containers, the source said, are lace fabric, used clothes, second-hand shoes, bags, truck heads, iron rods, angle bar, wood, pipes, gas trucks, rice, furniture, light and other household items.
Some of the goods, the source said, were cleared from the ports but were seized by men of the Federal Operation Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A’ for false declaration, undeclaration and evasion of duty.
Most of the exotic cars, the source said, were seized because the owners bought them from smugglers or importers who evaded duty.
But some of the car owners are accusing the FOU operatives of harassing them on the highway for no just reason.
They alleged that men of the unit intercepted their vehicles on the Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan express roads after being released by other Customs units under the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), at the ports.
Some of the officers, they claimed, demanded gratifications of between N200,000 and N400,000 and sometimes more, to get the vehicles released.
But, FOU’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr Uche Ejesieme, described the allegations as baseless and fabricated.
The owners are appealing to Mrs. Adeosun and Ali, to sell the vehicles to them.
An affected importer, Mr Felix Raji, alleged that his Toyota Camry was seized by the FOU officers on Lagos/Shagamu/Ijebu-Ode Expressway, adding that efforts to get the car back have been fruitless.
“I was going to Ijebu-Aiyepe when the vehicle was seized from around Shagamu. I bought the vehicle for N1.2 million from the importer who cleared the vehicle through the Tin-Can Port, Lagos.
“When the Customs officers from Ikeja impounded the vehicle last year, they confirmed to me that the car arrived the country through the Lagos port but that the importer did not pay the appropriate duty and invited me to their office.
“The vehicle was seized on a Thursday, but when I got to their office on the following Tuesday, the report I got from them was that my vehicle had entered seizure and that I should go and wait till the time when the car would be auctioned. Till date, I am still waiting for the advert or letter that will invite me for the auctioning,” he lamented.
He added: “This is a vehicle that was released by Customs officers working at the port. If there is a problem with the amount that was paid as duty by the importer before the vehicle was released, who do we blame? Who is responsible for the release of my vehicle from the port? Is it not Customs? Is it not because of their own high level of corruption and inefficiency that many innocent and law-abiding Nigerians would not be able to buy vehicles that were genuinely purchased, imported through our seaports and drive it on the road? he queried.
“These are officers the nation expects to go into the bush and creeks to combat smuggling, harassing innocent and law-abiding importers on the road based on their negligence corrupt practices,” he said.
The President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, blamed some corrupt Customs officials, importers and some clearing agents for the woes.
“It takes two to tangle. Let us agree that an importer or a clearing agent wanted to defraud the government, why must an officer, saddled with the responsibility to block revenue loopholes allow that to happen?
“What Customs told us was that the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) was introduced to make cargo clearance easy from the port, but what Nigerians are experiencing and seeing on this road daily is not what we expected from the scheme. We had hoped that since Customs has taken over all aspects of cargo clearance, the issues of evasion of duty, falsified documents, under declaration, over invoicing and other import related problems, would be resolved before goods and vehicles are allowed to move out of the ports. And that is why ANLCA has insisted that the CGC must curb the excesses of his men and ensure the adoption of a duty benchmark on fairly used vehicles, (Tokunbo).
For years, Shittu said, Customs has operated without a benchmark for used vehicles. The agency, according to him, fixes duty at will, depending on who is importing.
It was learnt that Nigeria loses cargoes to ports of neighbouring countries because many importers don’t know the actual duty on used vehicles. Findings also revealed that some officers are also exploiting the absence of a clear cut policy on benchmark to extort importers and their agents despite CGS’s warnings against corruption.
“It takes two to tangle. Customs officers are paid and remunerated to ensure that nobody short-change the system, but there are people who also offer them opportunities to short change the government and you find them among Customs officers, importers and some clearing agents.
“There are immediate steps the CG needs to take now to nip corruption in the bud. One of the first things he needs to do is to ensure that there is a bench mark on used vehicles. The bench mark being used by Customs gives room for corruption because it is not publicised. For instance, if you want to buy a vehicle from abroad and you already know how much you are paying, it is better you pay everything to government without giving anybody bribe to get the vehicle out of the ports,” Shittu said.
He added: “Despite the age limit imposed on imported Tokunbo vehicles, it is sad that no Nigerian bringing any type of the approved vehicle into the country knows the actual amount he or she is going to pay as Customs duty.
“Other ports are now using online system to submit clearance documentation, which has resulted in significant reduction in corruption,” he said.
Findings also revealed some fraud starts are using the huge number of vehicles at the government warehouse to defraud and milk innocent Nigerians.
Some of the fraud gang, it was learnt, works in connivance with some corrupt Customs officers, serving and retired.
For instance, there are millions of text messages and thousands of fake emails being sent to innocent Nigerians on the purported plan by the Federal Government to auction these vehicles at ridiculous prices on daily basis.
The more Customs tries to deny the auction plan, the more Nigerians fall prey because the issue keep coming on the social media and the vehicles are there in the various government warehouse to see.
One the fake messages posted on the social media to deceive and milk innocent Nigerians reads as follow: “This action is in line with the Directives of The Federal Government of Nigeria Custom Service on going 2015/2016 (Batch A) Vehicles Auctioning.
“These vehicles are First Class Grades and has (sic) never been used in Nigeria. These vehicles are currently in the Custom Warehouse at Same Border ports awaiting removal by clearance. Interested persons must be above 18 years old with 1:Active Drivers license or National ID card.”
Ejesieme said the unit’s operation was more of intelligence, adding that its operatives impound suspicious containers and vehicles that were wrongly released from the ports.
FOU officers, he said, have the power to intercept any container or vehicle that is against the Federal Government’s fiscal policy.
“If they were given information that there was a manipulation in the document presented for the release of the vehicle from the port, our officers would go there and intercept the item and the release officer would be asked to report to FOU and subsequently to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja,” he said.
He appealed to Nigerians to give the unit information that could lead to the arrest of fraudulent importers.
When The Nation visited the government warehouses at Seme and Ikeja few days ago, findings revealed that the environment where the vehicles are kept is not conducive.
Weeds have taken over some of the places where the vehicles were packed and rodents moving freely in the bushy area of the compound.
Some of the grades ‘A’ vehicles that can be sold for millions of naira each are already rotten away because of their long kept in the sun and rain and nobody is taking care of them.
“We all know that some of the vehicles were very good when they were seized. Snakes and rats are now using them as place of abode. This is happening because they belong to the government and nobody cares for them as if it is not money. If auctioned, the vehicles would give the government billions of naira that can be used to provide employment or social infrastructure for Nigerians,” said one of the security officials stationed at the gate one of the warehouses.
