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Tag: Auto dealers

  • Auto dealers lose N1.7b to customs, army raids

    Auto dealers lose N1.7b to customs, army raids

    • Dealers seek 20% duty

    The Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) yesterday lamented that its members lost about 400 vehicles valued at N1.7billion to incessant raids by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Army.

    Its National President, Ajibola Adedoyin,  who raised the alarm during a press confrence in Abuja, said NCS operatives seized the vehicles from various car parks across the country.

    He urged the Federal Government to reduce the duty on imported vehicles from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.

    Adedoyin said it was the Federal Government’s automotive policy designed to encourage the patronage of made-in-Nigeria vehicles that led to the rise in customs duty and levies.

    “The rate is too high. It is the Nigerian populace that buys the vehicles that bears the cost and the pains,” he said.

    Adedoyin recalled that upon the introduction of the 35 per cent vehicle duty payment, the NCS Comptroller- General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), only allowed the dealers a slim window of six weeks to pay duty on all undutied vehicles in their car parks.

    He said owing to the confusion that the short window created, most of the dealers did not key into the window, which has now made them to perpetually be on the onslaught of customs officials.

    According to him, the association will not in any way support any form of illegality, adding that the group is craving the indulgence of the Customs management to give AMDON another opportunity to submit the vehicles in their car parks for duty payment.

    “We are aware that the intention of the CG is to block all loopholes and generate revenue for the government in order to carry out its development policies and not to kill existing businesses.

    “Our plea is based on the reasoning that if given the another window, the fear will reduce; NCS will generate more funds for the government while our members’ investment will be protected and further sack of workers will be halted.

    “If given the opportunity, AMDON will work with NCS to ensure strict compliance, while we continue to discourage the smuggling of vehicles,” Adedoyin said.

     

  • Auto dealers seek review of 70% duty on imported vehicles

    The Federal Government has been advised to re-view the automotive policy, which imposes 70 per cent levy on imported vehicles, pending the mass production of made-in-Nigeria vehicles.

    The Chairman, Auto-dealer Association in Owode Area of Ogun State, Mr Samuel Johnson  said the levy introduced by the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan to support the local industry was yet to yield the expected results before the Federal Government ban the importation of vehicles through the land orders.

    Nigerians, Johnson said, were paying 20 per cent duty on imported vehicles before the last administration suddenly introduce 35 per cent duty on imported vehicles.

    He urged the government to slash the rate on new vehicles by 35 per cent to make the seaport a hub in the ubregion.

    High  port charges and poor access road to the Lagos ports, Johnson said, contributed immensely to the  diversion of cargoes to neighbouring countries’ ports, thus, leading to loss in government’s revenue.

    “It is not enough for the government to ban the importation of vehicles through the land borders. The Federal Government  needs to review the auto policy, fix the Apapa road and make the port attractive for business. The maritime sector is confronted with many problems that need to be addressed to boost trade and generate employment,” he said.

    The Secretary of the group, Mr Dele Adeyemo said the ban on imported vehicles through the land borders would have positive effect on the economy if Nigerians are encouraged by the government to patronise the seaports.

    Nigeria, he said, has a huge porous borders that need to be manned adequately, to checkmate the activities of the smugglers.

    Also, the  Shippers’Association Lagos State (SALS) has urged the the government to assist shippers to reduce the costs of doing business at the seaports.

    Its President, Mr Jonathan Nicol, lamented that the high port charges had affected the costs of doing business in the country.

    He said: “We have a very big problem in the maritime sector. We believe that the government will stick to the maritime sector as one of the most important aspects of the nation’s economy.

    “This will enable other Nigerian shippers who have gone to the neighbouring ports to come back.”

  • Three die in Customs, auto dealers clash in Kwara

    Three persons reportedly died in a clash between men of the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) and auto dealers in Bode-Saadu, Moro Local Government of Kwara State.
    But the police said only one person died and three others sustained injuries.
    It was gathered the injured are receiving treatment in a private hospital. An eyewitness said the clash caused pandemonium as residents ran to safety.
    It was gathered the auto dealers were coming from Cotonou, Benin Republic, when they ran into an ambush of the NCS.
    The auto dealers sped off to evade arrest and men of the NCS chased after them. An exchange of fire ensued and three persons were hit.
    Police spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi said the clash happened Monday evening and that only one person died. He, however, said no arrest has been made.

  • Auto dealers protest alleged killing of colleague by Customs men

    Auto dealers protest alleged killing of colleague by Customs men

    Hell was let loose over the weekend when members of the Motor Dealers Association (MDA), Oyo State chapter, stormed the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) office in Ibadan to protest the alleged killing of one of their colleagues by some Customs officers.

    The deceased auto dealer, identified as Tunde Abdul, 32, was reportedly knocked down by a truck around 4:30am on Saturday at Alapako on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway when he was stopped by some Customs officers led by one Kunle Yinusa.

    It was gathered that a DAF truck with registration number Osun PRN-123 XA, had tried to avoid a pothole on the road, but lost control and in the process hit the three cars that were cleared from Lagos port by the late Abdul.

    In protest, angry auto dealers blocked the road along Bodija-Secretariat axis where the Customs office is located to demand probe of Abdul’s death, which they described as “unacceptable.”

    The late Abdul, according to sources, is survived by a pregnant wife and a child.

    Addressing journalists at the Customs office, Public Relations Officer of MDA, Pastor Vincent Ayodeji, said harassment by Customs officers on their members along Lagos/Ibadan expressway has become incessant, stressing that all the vehicles being transported from Lagos port to Ibadan were legally cleared at the point of entry.

    He said: “We heard this morning that  some of our members while bringing two cars from Lagos were stopped by Customs officers around Alapako at the border between Oyo and Ogun State around 4am. So, they asked for the papers of the cars, which they were obliged. But the Custom officer asked them for a bribe which they refused to give.

    “They therefore insisted that the papers are not genuine and told them to wait till day break to be able to confirm from their office. While waiting, a truck coming from the opposite direction of the road crushed the vehicles.

    “Unfortunately, one of our three members died, his name is Tunde Abdul. One other person was injured and that is why we have come here to protest against the incessant harassment of our members by men of the Custom officers.”

    He called on the leadership of NCS to carry out a detailed investigation of the incident and bring the erring officers to book.

    Efforts to reach the Public Relations Officer of Customs in the state, Njeoma Nkiru, proved abortive as at the time of filling this report, as her phone numbers indicated she was not reachable.