The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • ECOWAS common tariff won’t benefit Nigeria, agents claim

    ECOWAS common tariff won’t benefit Nigeria, agents claim

    Is the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Common External Tariff (CET) of benefit to Nigeria?

    No, says the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), which is championing the review of CET by the incoming Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    CET, ANLCA claims, has made Nigeria’s ports the most expensive in West Africa because of the multiple charges collected from importers.

    “These charges are hindering the trade facilitation programme, while businesses in other sub-regional ports like Cotonou are thriving,” the agents said, adding that this is why CET cannot be implemented in Nigeria unless the government reviews it.

    ANLCA, it was learnt, has drawn the battle line with the Customs and the Council for Regulations of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) over CET’s implementation and practitioners’fee collection.

    ANLCA asked its members not to pay the fee, which CRFFN would have started collecting since May 11.

    In a Public Notice, the CRFFN said: “In exercise of the powers conferred on it under Section 4 (d) and 6 (2) (C) of the CRFFN Act No 16 of 2007, notice is hereby brought to all registered freight forwarders; all seaport terminal operators; all airport cargo terminal handlers and the public that the collection of practitioners’ fee by the council commences on Monday, May 11, 2015.”

    Besides asking its members to shun the directive, ANLCA has suspended further discussions with CRFFN.

    ANLCA said the directive for the fee collection can only emanate from the National Assembly after the CRFFN board must have been constituted by the government.

    ANLCA President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, is blaming the high cost of cargo processing on the introduction of what he calls “obnoxious levies”.

    Importers, he said, pay multiple charges before collecting their goods, urging the government to address the problem and reduce the cost of doing business.

    Shittu said: “Importers pay Customs duties and levies that are not uniform in most of the seaports. Other tariff that make the ports expensive are the seven per cent development levy; one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme; 0.5 per cent  ECOWAS Trade Liberation Scheme (ETLS); NIMASA/NPA Sea Protection Levy (SPL); haulage cost – transportation per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and terminal operator progressive stage charges.

    “Importers also pay terminal operator documentation; terminal operator examination; terminal operator scan fee; terminal operator scan loading fee; terminal operator delivery; terminal operator terminal handling and terminal operator labour fees.

    “They also pay shipping line demurrage, shipping line agency, shipping line documentation, shipping line telex release, shipping line container deposit fees, terminal operators two weeks additional advance rating period, shipping line two weeks additional advance rating period, shipping line minimum of one month grace for container deposit refund, freight forwarders professional fee – unstreamlined, and several inconsiderate charges at the bonded terminals”.

    An ANCLA member, Mr Segun Ogusanu, derided the five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) and one per cent Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) charge as some of the multiple charges.

    Ogunsanu said for CRFFN to be effective, it must comprise elected practitioners.

    “CRFFN is headed by a Registrar, who is the Chief Executive. He is a permanent staff member unlike others who are elected into office or appointed by the Minister of Transport. The Board of the CRFFN cannot remove him without the approval of the Minister, a position that makes the chief executive officer very powerful and issue any notice he likes without consulting the people on whose behalf the council was established.

    “Since a new board has not been constituted and election held, the council is a one-man show,” he said.

    ANLCA’s  National Publicity Secretary Kayode Farinto told The Nation that the National Executive Council (NEC) has suspended further discussions with CRFFN.

    He said: “NEC has constituted a committee to interface with the management of CRFFN to come up with recommendation towards further engagement.

    “The committee is empowered by NEC to discuss, negotiate and take all appropriate steps towards ANLCA professional interest.

    “The committee members include the association’s former president, Chief Ernest Elechukwu; Chief Peter Obi; Prince Taiye Oyeniyi; Mayor Ekweche; David Kanikwu; Bayo Oyekanju; Alhaji Umar Ibrahim and Kayode Farinto.”

    Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), it was learnt, may intervene in the face-off between the CRFFN and ANLCA to ensure peace at the ports.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr Hassan Bello, sources said, may summon ANCLA and CRFFN officials to a meeting before the week runs out.

    CRFFN Registrar, Sir Mike Jukwe, said the collection of practitioner’ operating fees was a directive given to his agency by the Federal Government.

    “As an employee, I will convey the position of ANLCA to the government and will be directed further,” he said.

     

  • How to achieve 48-hour cargo clearance, by Shippers Council

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Coun-cil (NSC) is set to enforce the  48-hour clearance of goods at the ports to make them competitive, its Secretary, Mr. Hassan Bello, has said.

    The Council, he said, believes that the ports lost their comparative advantage to ports of neighbouring countries because of bureaucratic bottleneck.

    “NSC is not happy with the clearing procedures and the inability to achieve the 48-hour cargo clearance,” he said, adding that he may adopt measures that will fast-track cargo clearance from any terminal to boost trading at the ports, adding that he could resort to automation to reduce human contact in cargo clearance.

    The council’s ultimate aim is to provide platforms for cargo clearance so that the ports can meet international standard, Bello said, urging stakeholders to support his organisation in finding a solution to the problem.

    He said: “The idea is that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is the referee in this friendly context, and the more we interact with the service providers and government agencies, the better understanding we will get on quick cargo clearance.

    “We need automation in every port instead of doing many things manually. We need to streamline these processes and develop standard operating procedures, and check the presence of government agencies at the ports on what they are doing and the Customs to also up their game in automation.’’

    Bello what on: “They have led the way but we need other stakeholders to come and buy in. Importers need to make genuine declaration of their goods to help the process and the clearing agents too must pay the actual duty to reduce the time. So, we are doing a lot of consultation while we supervise and moderate. Customs has been leading in so many areas of what our ultimate aim is – which is automation, providing platforms for cargo clearance so that our ports will become efficient. The trade facilitation issue they have pioneered is something very commendable and it is a starting point as far as we are concerned.”

    He spoke of the need to streamline cargo clearance procedures and ensure that the ports can compete with others in West and Central Africa.

    “Nigerian ports are in competition with other ports within the sub-region, so we have to streamline our clearance procedures – the way we do business – so that we attract more cargoes to Nigerian ports,” he said.

    “We need to develop standard operating procedures. We need to check the presence of government agencies in the ports on what they are doing and what they must not do to boost trade,” Bello added.

     

  • NPA workers seek better welfare

    The Senior Staff Association  of Communications Trans-port and Corporation (SSACTAC), Maritime branch, has urged Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Alhaji Lamido Sanusi Ado Bayero to ensure workers’welfare.

    The workers blamed the immediate past Managing Director, Mallam Habib Abdullahi, for what they called “poor remuneration”, urging Bayero not to follow his footsteps.

    For almost two years that Abdullahi served as the helmsman, SSACTAC President Comrade Benson Adegbeyeni said, the workers did not benefit from his administration.

    “The sacked Managing Director, Abdullahi rose from the Personnel Department of NPA to what he was, but he failed to understand that workers were supposed to be taken proper care of.

    “The new MD has inherited so many challenges which the sacked MD failed to address.

    “The challenges are numerous, and they included the new minimum wage. For the last four years, our salary has not changed, even during the administration of Abdullahi, it was the same and that is why we are telling the new MD to understand that truly, he has inherited so many challenges.

    “We have been promised up to this period, yet we have not earned the new wages, promotion and the issue of financial guide is also there,” he added.

    Adegbeyeni also said concessioning of the ports had caused more havoc than good, pointing out that the process was a failure.

    Also, the retrenched workers of the NPA have appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and the President-elect Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on NPA to pay their entitlement 24 years after they were sacked.

    At a conference in Lagos, the chairman of the retrenched workers Comrade Babriel Shotunde said hundreds of their members who were sacked in 1991 have died due to hardship, noting that some families have divorced because of poverty and other domestic challenges.

    He added that the workers who were sacked in 1991 had sought redress at the court, stressing that the NPA refusal to obey the judgment of the courts which directed it to pay the sacked workers.

    “We are about 2,750 retrenched staff of NPA in 1991, although 7,000 workers were forcefully served letters of retrenchment. Some were due for pension having served 15 years and above while others were due for retirement.

    “This has led to premature death of our members as a result of the wretchedness and poverty. For instance, at the Calabar Port, 60 out of the 201 workers sacked from there are dead.

    “Our children born 24 years ago when the incident happened now roam the streets because we could not afford to send them to higher institutions,” he said.

    Shotunde urged President Jonathan prevail to on NPA to obey court judgement to pay the workers. “We are equally calling on President elect Buhari to intervene on our behalf to end our suffering which started in 1991.

    “With no inheritance or property of their own most of our members have become professional beggars and insolvent. We appeal to government to halt the impunity of NPA to pay us our dues.”

     

  • Importers may lose N10b goods over N20b duty default

    Importers may lose N10b goods over N20b duty default

    Seven rice importers may lose over N10 billion goods for non-payment of N20 billion duty. They allegedly abused their quota.

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), it was learnt, may seize their goods, following its inability to recover the cash.

    The deadline for them to pay up has since expired.

    Sources close to the Federal Ministry of Finance told The Nation that instead of looking for ways to pay, they besieged the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina’s office last week, to ask for waivers.

    It could not be ascertained if the minister has the power to grant waivers. An importer complained of his inability to pay. A source alleged that some of the importers may delay payment until President-elect Muhammadu Buhari is swornin on May 29.

    But Customs is insisting that it has President Goodluck Jonathan’s nod to recover the money.

    An official of one of the companies, who does not want to be named, said they imported the rice to help Nigerians.

    “Our effort was to ensure that Nigerians don’t go hungry, but rather than this gesture being recognised and compensated, the Nigeria Customs is busy, breathing down on our necks, asking us to pay.

    “We have invested heavily. We ought to be encouraged. Even those the government granted waivers didn’t do half of what we did,’’ he said.

    He confirmed that some of them had been given waivers, but provided no proof to buttress his claim.

    Waiver, he claimed, was granted to some of them, naming Olam Nigeria Ltd.

    “Given OLAM Nigeria’s massive rice production and milling investments in Nigeria, being the largest single investor in the sub-sector over the last two years with investments over $120 million, the Ministry was willing to reduce the amount owed by 50 percent to 54,000 metric tonnes (MT) to be applied to this year’s allocations.

    “Olam’s existing rice production and processing operations and future investment plans have been assessed against the aforementioned criteria and an import quota of 246,000 has been allocated to Olam as a major rice investor for the period, April 2015 to March 2016. This volume takes into account the adjustment for the 54,000MT.

    “Olam qualifies for a 10 per cent duty and 20 per cent levy waiver allocation,” the official said.

    The Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Wale Adeniyi, however, said the position of the Customs, in collecting the duty had not changed, stressing that management would collect the duty in the absence of which it would sanction the importers.

    “We are committed to a recovery of the duty payable on excess importation of rice. We have the government’s backing on this.The President (Goodluck Jonathan) has given us the mandate to recover fully the duty on excess importation on rice and management has no reason whatsoever to shirk its responsibility in this regard.

    “It is revenue that is due from any excess importation and we have President Jonathan’s backing to make this recovery. So, despite their foot dragging, they cannot escape paying it,” Adeniyi said.

    Asked what the Customs Service would do, should the rice importers remain adamant, the image maker stressed that the service has enough power to recover the duty.

    “Some of these importers still import. They are corporate bodies. So, they have indemnities which we can tap into. We have our cards; and we can very much play it effectively.

    “Some of them still have high volumes of imports which they have not started discharging. We may not allow them to discharge. And even the ones that have discharged; we may not allow them to leave the port, until they meet their obligation,” Adeniyi said.

     

  • NSC boss to make port attractive

    NSC boss to make port attractive

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) is set to make the seaports attractive, The Nation has learnt.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr Hassan Bello, it was gathered, is not happy that the ports have lost their comparative advantage in terms of cost and others to other ports, especially in cargo clearance.

    Bello, sources close to the Federal Ministry of Transport said, is determined to ensure that the country recoups its the loss, and restore stakeholders’ confidence in the seaports.

    The problem came about before the Federal Government appointed the NSC as an economic regulator, after the ports were concessioned.

    Sources said this was responsible for the legal tussle the Council is fighting and the inability of Nigerians to reap the full benefits of the port reform programme of the government.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport who craved anonymity said after the implementation of the Federal Government’s port reform programme, which led to the concessioning of port terminals, the importers and other stakeholders noted a vacuum, the absence of an economic regulator to act as a referee.

    This vacuum, the official said, made it difficult for Nigerians to enjoy the gains of the programme

    “The inefficiency in the procedures and operations of agencies and port users is adversely affecting and undermining Nigeria’s competitive advantage in international trade, which Bello is now set out to correct.

    The officinal said the effective regulation being put in place by Bello requires much more than just competent economic and financial analysis, but must also being able to manage complex interaction with the regulated firms, consumers, politicians, courts, the media and other interests.

    “The benefits of a regulated port industry, which Hassan Bello is trying to establish at NSC, would lead to improved revenue generation, infrastructural development, creation of efficient market, reduction of cost of business and improved Global Competitive Index and consequent attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),” the official said.

    A senior official of the council, who does not want his name in print, said  the “regulator needs to provide a level playing field amongst competitors as the regulators need to be independent, transparent, legitimate and credible,” adding that the global competiveness of Nigerian ports has a major role to play in the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment.

     

  • Mariners to Buhari: promote ship repairs, dry docking

    Mariners to Buhari: promote ship repairs, dry docking

    THE Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) has urged President-elect Muham-madu Buhari to promote indigenous ship repairs and dry docking.

    Its President, Captain Ade Olopoenia, told The Nation that it is lamentable Nigeria has no functional ship repairs and dry docking firms.

    Nigeria, he said, accounts for over 70 per cent of ships coming to Africa, adding that no fewer than 5,400 vessels called at the nation’s seaports last year. With modern repairs facilities, the sector would rake in billions of naira and create jobs.

    He said most of the vessels operating on Nigerian waters go to neighbouring countries for dry docking and other routine maintenance, noting that this is at a huge financial loss to the country.

    “This significant maritime presence requires that ship repairs with dry docks of varying capacities be established to cope with the maintenance requirement of these vessels.

    “Classification society rules and the good maintenance of ships requires that ships be dry docked every 30 months on the average for routine surveys. Special surveys are required at every alternative docking that is once in three years. As the age of a vessel increases, so does the amount of repair work it needed.

    “Aside from routine docking, vessels need to come to propeller and ship hull, or damaged caused by ropes or debris, and also mechanical breakdown.

    “Sadly, the ship repairs industry in Nigeria is underdeveloped and its potential untapped. This is largely because the government has not paid meaningful attention to this sector of the economy.

    “As a result of the shortage of adequate ship repair facilities, most of the vessels operating in Nigeria waters proceed to neighbouring countries for scheduled dry docking and other routine maintenance works. This is at huge financial loss to the country, while at the same time denying employment opportunities to Nigerians.’’

    To reduce the large number of containers and tankers on the Apapa, Lagos roads, the group urged Buhari to give priority to the inland water transportation and provide the enabling environment for the private sector in floating the Nigerian National Shipping Lines.

    Olopoenia said while his group  supports the move to establish a new national shipping line, he added that the government should support the private sector by providing enabling environment.

    “For sometime, there have been calls for the establishment of a national shipping line by the Federal Government along the lines of the liquidated Nigerian National Shipping Lines (NNSL).

    “There is sound logic in having a national line bearing in mind the level of shipping activities in Nigeria, which is dominated exclusively by foreign shipping companies.

    “While we support this call, the association does not believe such shipping lines should be owned by the government.

    “Rather, the government should give support to the private sector by way of financial guarantee to credible consortium of Nigerian ship owners.

    “We can take a cue from the Ethiopian Shipping Line which is the only viable shipping enterprise running in the African continent at the moment.

    “It will also ensure that identified challenges are addressed satisfactorily and, ultimately, activities in the maritime sector will adhere to the requirement of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) convention and other international treaties.”Olopoenia said.

    He urged the in-coming government to replicate the type of professionalism that has brought about some peace and safety in the aviation industry to the maritime sector.

    “A similar process is necessary in the maritime sector that will require core maritime professionals to be brought on board to head the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Transport,”he added.

    On the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), the group’s chief lamented that more than 10 years after the law was enacted, its objectives were yet to be achieved. Consequently, it called for a review of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act, noting that granting of waivers to foreign ships is inimical to the economy.

    The group also urged the government to put in place a legal frame- work that would allow the Shipper’ Council to carry out its role as port commercial regulator.

    On the plan to build the group’s permanent secretariat, Olopoenia said the group has acquired some plots of land on the Lekki-Ajah Expressway for that purpose.

     

  • Sifax gets new image maker

    Sifax gets new image maker

    The Sifax Group, one of the Africa’s fastest growing multinational corporations with diverse interests in maritime, haulage and logistics, aviation, oil and gas and hospitality, has appointed Mr Akande Olumuyiwa as its new Corporate Affairs Manager.

    The Executive Director Administration of the organisation Dr Phil Nonyeh Ofulue made the announcement in Lagos.

    The promotion followed the deployment of former Head, Corporate Affairs and Marketing Mr Oliver Omajuwa, as General Manager, Off-Dock Terminal of the company.

    Akande, Ofulue said, is one of the best officers of the company and has been in the corporate affairs department of the company for some years.

    The new image maker, it was learnt, had worked with Omajuwa, and deputised for himon several occasions, a position that afforded him an opportunity to understand the workings of the company.

     

  • Cabotage: Nigeria loses N1.8tr yearly to foreign ship owners

    Cabotage: Nigeria loses N1.8tr yearly to foreign ship owners

    Despite the Cabotage Law, Nigeria is losing N1.8 trillion yearly to foreign shipowners in cargo haulage, it has been learnt.

    Under the law, coastal trade is reserved for indigenous shipowners; their foreign counterparts are allowed to participate in the business subject to a waiver by the Federal Government.

    To the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), the law is not serving its purpose because the group’s members cannot handle cargoes that pass through the nation’s waterways.

    The group met in Lagos last week on how to engage the in-coming Muhammadu Buhari administration on involving its members in crude oil lifting.

    Sources close to the group said a vessel involved in offshore operations collects at least $5,000 daily. This, according to a source, is the least amount collected by foreign vessels on the nation’s waters.

    The country, he said, is losing $10 billion yearly to foreigners because of the government’s alleged failure to engage indigenous ship chandlers; and also losing N45 billion yearly due to the preference given to foreign ship owners and their choice of insurers over the indigenous companies in the lifting and importation of fuel.

    The Federal Government, a source said, loses over N3.5 billion monthly in freight insurance, urging the in-coming administration to arrest the situation.

    A senior Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) official, who pleaded not to be named, said the amount foreign ship owners pay to the agency and others is meagre compared to what they repatriate.

    He put the Federal Government’s loss at over N1.8 trillion yearly, wondering why the loopholes were not plugged by the out-going administration.

    Indigenous insurance companies, he said, were sidelined in the insurance of imported fuel both locally and internationally

    “The sorry situation we find our country as a maritime nation is ridiculous and in absolute contravention of the Local Content Act.

    “For instance, Nigerian ship chandlers are supposed to be given 95 per cent of business opportunities in the ship chandelling industry and other opportunities to render services in the ships. The in-coming administration needs to ensure that the local content Act is wholly implemented in order to create jobs for Nigerians in the maritime, oil and gas sectors effectively.

    “The participation of multinational companies in ship chadling has rendered many Nigerians jobless and the Buhari led government must correct these anomalies.

    “When the Cabotage regime came on stream, the intention was mainly to stimulate the development of indigenous capacity in the Nigerian maritime industry.But many years after, the situation remains the same despite the despite the efforts by NIMASA.

    “In the oil and gas industry, Nigeria has close to 500 oil wells. For each well, there is a rig, which is supported by a minimum of five ships, and they are called oil support vessels. Each of the foreign ships earn $5,000, while others earn $150,000 per day.

    “The Cabotage Act seeks to reserve domestic coastal trade or Cabotage trade within Nigerian coastal and inland waters to vessels built and registered in the country, wholly owned and manned by Nigerian citizens. Foreign-owned vessels and companies are, however, allowed to participate in Cabotage trade within Nigerian waters, subject to obtaining a waiver and or license from the Federal Ministry of Transport.

    “Almost 10 years, not much has changed, as the indigenous vessel owners, who the law was designed to protect remained sidelined and impoverished while foreign shipping companies dominate the trade and the Federal Government not looking responsive.

    “I can say conveniently that even in the crude oil carriage that they do today, if SOAN, ISAN is allowed to do 60 per cent of their own allocation, they will be putting back more than about N1.5trillion or N1.8 trillion into the economy and that is almost half of the  budget. What is the budget? It is N4 trillion or something above that. If the ship owners contribute N1.5 trillion or more into it, the multiplier effect of it would be seen in our economy and the job it would create.

    Speaking at the inauguration of SOAN in Lagos last week NIMASA’s former Director-General Mr Temisan Omatseye said there was no magic to end foreign domination apart from clear cut vision, good policy and implementation and demonstration of enough political will by those in government.

    “With the poor state of our economy, I think it would be suicidal for us to continue to engage foreigners to lift our crude. The government must ensure that every dollar we pay for the carriage of our oil comes into the economy.

    “I am very sure that by the time we put the naughty issue before the government it would be ready to engage indigenous ship owners.

    “We are businessmen and we won’t ask government for money but tell them how to open up the industry,” he said.

    Omatseye also bemoaned several millions of dollars the country is losing to foreign ship owners and urged the government to end the problem with good policy formulation.

    SOAN’s President, Mr Greg Ogbeifun, promised that the group would promote the interest of Nigerian-owned vessels and also provide a forum for dialogue among indigenous ship owners.

    “SOAN comprise ship owning companies with proven track records of activities in the industry recognised by upstream and downstream sectors of the shipping industry as well as by the private and public sectors of the industry.

    Ogbeifun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Starz Group, said SOAN was set up to facilitate participation of Nigerian shipowners in international fora on shipping matters through effective representation

    “To cultivate and maintain good relations with the government and maritime authorities by contributing expertise in formulating policies and regulations on national and maritime activities.

    “We won’t set agenda for the new government but will only set a road map for them. We are not a pressure group but a group of businessmen with proven track record,” he said.

     

  • Customs seizes N105m goods concealed in train

    Customs seizes N105m goods concealed in train

    The Monitoring Team of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at Idiroko has intercepted a train from Kano, carrying assorted textile and other goods at the Abeokuta Railway Station in Ogun State.

    The team was led by the Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Yahaya Usman Biri.

    Sources told The Nation that the team had been on the trail of the consignment from Kano following a tip off that the items came from unapproved routes to the train station.

    The items evacuated from the two coaches included 27 bales of blanket, 141 long bales of ankara materials, 49 cartons of choc balls, two gallons of vegetable oil, four bags of 40kg parboiled rice, three small sacks of printed textile materials, one carton of bonny cream milk, one sack of detergent and 159 small sacks of textile materials.

    The items have been transferred to the government warehouse in Ikeja.

    The team has begun investigation to establish the source of the consignment.

    The team said it succeeded because of the support of Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi.

    The team had made a similar seizure at Iddo Train Terminus in Lagos with the collaboration of the Federal Operation Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ officers.

     

  • Five Customs officers in trouble over ‘shady’ clearance

    Five Customs officers in trouble over ‘shady’ clearance

    Five senior Customs officers at the Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos, have been queried for alleged dereliction of duty.

    They have been invited to the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) in Ikeja, Lagos to explain why they released a 20-foot container carrying goods not declared in the Bill of Lading.

    Sources said the officers had been ordered to go to the FOU before moving to Abuja to face a disciplinary panel.

    A source said: “The container was released by senior Customs officials at Tin-Can port but FOU officers intercepted the container, following a tip-off.

    “Some of the items in the container include a vehicle, tiles and over 300 cartoons of items that were not declared by the importer.”

    FOU’s Public Relations Officer Uche Ejesim confirmed the seizures. He did not give details.