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Tag: Customs chief

  • Why smuggling persists, by Customs chief

    Smuggling seems to be without end. Aliyu Mohammed, the Comptroller of Customs in charge of Federal Operations Unit Zone A, Lagos, says activities of neighbouring countries are fueling smuggling. Mohammed, in this interview with  journalists, said education and sensitisation are key in tackling the menace. MUYIWA LUCAS was there.

    The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A is very strategic to the fight against infractions relating to importation. Can you give us an overview of your unit’s performance so far in 2019?

    Federal Operation Unit Zone ‘A’ operates in an area where almost 80 per cent of the total revenue generated by the Nigeria Customs Service is collected. The large area that we cover actually stresses our officers seriously because these are very hostile areas. Let me start with only Seme command where I was first posted before I came here. This is a place where I didn’t come across any smuggler; I only came across crosser and carriers. What I mean by crosser is people from Republic of Benin that cross the goods and handover to people on the Nigerian side.

    What we discover is that most of these  people are ignorant of what they are doing.   But  with dialogue and sensitisation, their activities will be reduced or suppressed. A boy I met and questioned on why he engaged in smuggling and not attending school like his counterparts, he retorted: “why should I go to school?  To graduate and start looking for job when my brother has crossed five bags of rice.  The next day, he crossed 10 bags. He was able to make money to buy a motorcycle. From motorcycle, he bought a car. Now, he has built a house.” This scenario  explains why smuggling is on the rise  but  we are engage in sensitisation to put things under control. That is why you  our officers are stressed.

    Can you give us figures of casualties from smuggling engagement between January and April?

    Between January to date, the casualty is very minimal because we strategise for our operations. I always tell our officers there are certain areas they must not apply force during operations. First, I tell them not to use force in the market, secondly they should be very careful while operating in the towns, and  thirdly whenever you see that the risk that may follow the operation is higher than the advantage, forget about the seizure. We respect human lives and try always to avoid danger to life when operating.

    When they have about 100 bags of rice  kept in bush and would take several lives to recover from the smugglers we normally strategise  to minimise casualties.This is  because the smugglers must pass through the road to bring the bags of rice to the market.  That is why you see that the causality we have is very minimal, not that we don’t have. Recently, we had an accidental discharge, but we were able to  properly control the situation. Aside that one, I don’t think we’ve had any causalities and we don’t pray for such.

    Do you feel frustrated that after you make so much seizures and your warehouses are full people still smuggle? 

    No I don’t. I feel happy to bring more and more. I joined Customs to do Customs job. I have  never associated myself with failure. I always associate myself with achievement. So I don’t mind if every day I can arrest 100 trailers as long as they come. I will continue to do it until they decide to stop it. At the same time, I urge Nigerians too to join in the fight because Customs alone cannot do it. Do you know how to assist? Why can’t we stop eating this foreign rice?

    Do you know most of this rice is rotten and expired? If you want to demonstrate go to Abakaliki and get their rice, go to Kebbi and get their rice, go to Kano and get rice, cook it, cover it and see in the morning, touch it and see which one will scatter. It is the foreign one with chemicals. Our local rice are genuine, you’ll see it very strong, nice and healthy.

    You see, the politics of rice in the world is something that whenever you look at it there is always this rush because they buy it very easily and and it is cheap there but once they bring it here, they sell it very high. Some of the bad rice are refined rice. if you come across a  rice go and get a coconut oil polish it, dry it and repackage it, that is what people are doing. So that is why sometime I say don’t mind the body mind the engine.

    There are very beautiful bags that are used to package the rotten rice and its injurious to health. Eighty percent of the foreign rice coming into Nigeria is like that. Imagine Benin where the so-called rice is coming from into Lagos, the common Benin person doesn’t eat them

    The whole of Benin is not even up to a (Nassarawa) Local Government in Kano State and when you go there, you see the number of rice coming into the country, they don’t eat the rice. What even surprised me is this, I will tell you this story. My former cook in Seme border during Christmas, I decided to give him two bags of rice for his family. Do you know that when he came out of my gate he sold them. I said don’t you have father and mother to celebrate the Christmas and he said ‘Oga we don’t eat this kind of rice in my country, only Nigeria’.

    Imagine my cook telling me as a Nigerian that he doesn’t eat that type of rice, so why can’t we do away with it? People said we cannot feed ourselves. I make bold to say, they are lying.  We can feed ourselves. If you want to see an example let me tell some people there is one brand of rice they cap rice . You get it in Kano. People do not know they only labelled it foreign rice or Thailand, do you know why they labell, nobody will buy it, but once they inscribe Thailand, people will rush it. If you doubt me, I will take you to Kano, there is a place they call  Kwanadawaji, you will see over 1000 trucks lined up waiting for evacuation of unprocessed rice to neighbouring countries. Most of those our warehouses are filled up with rice and people say we cannot feed ourselves. Okay if we cannot feed ourselves, go to see in a day how many trucks are going to Niger Republic from Nigeria with foods like rice, corn and others.

    There is this perception about the Customs Officer as unfriendly and an enemy of the people, particularly at the border communities. What do you have to say about this?

    As Customs officers, we not only work to protect the economy by collecting revenue, but also prevent  smuggling. We also protect lives of our people from being destroyed by these illicit importations you see. The Customs officer is at the frontline of preventing deaths of our citizens. Unfortunately, people see the Customs as a corrupt and group of bad people, not minding our selfless efforts at the risk of our lives. We prevent smuggling of arms and ammunition, drugs like prohibited dosage of tramadol and others. Whenever you see where they are beating Customs officers, people don’t even show care and affection towards us. They don’t want to save us from danger, but if one Customs officer kills a villager, they will want to burn the whole of that barrack. Where they  kill  three or five Customs officers, you cannot even see the story in the newspapers. I now ask, is Customs officer not a human being?

    You appear to be constantly at war with smugglers and they are not relenting. Why is it so?

    It is the kind of neighbours Nigeria has. They have a way of encouraging smuggling from their countries into Nigeria. I will give you examples with Benin Republic, which is closer to us here in Lagos. What we need to do is to tell ourselves the truth. Why is this rice coming? Who are the owners of this rice? You see it is just like a tree when you cut the branches it will grow but when you remove it completely from the root then it is over. Why is this rice coming from Benin? Is Benin above the law? The answer is No. Benin is a signatory to World Customs Organisation (WCO) agreements. Whenever you go there and make mention of transit goods you see how they will frown their faces or they just go out. The last meeting we had, one of their big men, when we talked of rice, he said my friend if rice is contraband in Nigeria, rice is not contraband in Benin. I said yes I know. But show me one Benin man who can afford 20,000 metric tonnes of rice who have the money to buy it and sell it in his country? I asked him again to show me one Benin man who can afford over 2000 units of 2019 model Prado at a go? The man just frowned because they don’t want to hear the word transit. What do I mean by transit good that came to a particular country and its not meant for that country’s use but for onward transition to another country. Customs job in the receiving country is to provide security escort so that they can go and handover to the other security in the actual destination country and bring in the landing certificate.

  • Customs chief gets 72-hour ultimatum on task forces

    Freight forwarders operating in the Lagos Western Zone, yesterday issued a 72- hour ultimatum to the Federal Government to call the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (rtd) to order. They specifically want Ali to address the multiplicity of customs task forces at the ports.

    They threatened  to withdraw their services from the port if their demand was not met by nest week Monday.

    Speaking at a joint press briefing in Apapa yesterday, various associations which include Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, accuesd the customs chief of deploying a team from Abuja to micro-manage the activities of the various commands.

    The freight forwarders identified 10 various units of customs constituting bottlenecks inside the port to include CG Strike Force, Compliance Team, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Monitoring,  Special Force, CG Task Force, Information Team, Customs Police, among others.

    The development which spiked tension in the port was the recent deployment of a special team from Abuja to inspect third party cargoes.

    Tin Can Chapter Chairman of ANLCA, Prince Segun Oduntan said the CG committee was sent to Apapa port last Thursday under the guise of inspecting some third party containers. He however said the team has taken over the job of the customs officers in the command.

    As a result of this development, he alleged that cargoes are now detained inside the ports while agents are made to pay exorbitant demurrage to terminal operators. He said the 24 -hour cargo clearance is now a mirage as a result of this anomaly.

    But responding, spokesman of  the NCS, Joseph Attah, said the Service’s anti-smuggling activities are anchored on three layers: the Command resident officers, FOU and the Headquarters Strike Force.

    “As a responsive organisation, NCS will continue to look forward to credible information about any team or officer that may be involved in an unethical practice for appropriate disciplinary action(s). NCS cherishes the existing  cordial  relationship with importers/agents and other relevant stakeholders whose activities have symbiotic impacts.

    Accordingly, management is open to any engagement that is aimed at enriching the system while not infracting on extant laws,” Attah explained.

    Attah said while the Service welcomes constructive criticism and suggestions that will help the course of making Nigeria a friendly  investment destination, however, blanket accusation and even call for dissolution of otherwise hard working and highly productive out fit such as the HQ strike force known for making high profile seizures of ammunitions, drugs, rice, vehicles etc appears suspect.

    Also speaking, Western Zone Coordinator of NAGAFF, Tanko Ibrahim, said agents have complained to the Customs area controllers who appeared powerless and directed the operators to channel their complaints to the CG in Abuja.

    “Last week, we saw officers from Abuja who said they were sent to the terminals to inspect some third party containers. But since then, they have remained permanent inside the port.

    “They now randomly select ‘C’ numbers of containers and after cargoes have been released, they would ask you to reposition it for examination and we are made to pay for re-examination,” he said.

     

     

  • Supreme Court voids sack of Customs chief

    Supreme Court voids sack of Customs chief

    The Supreme Court has set aside the compulsory retirement of Comptroller Abdukkahi Gusau from the service of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

    The court, in a unanimous judgment a five-man panel, ordered the immediate reinstatement of Comproller Gusau, who was retired on December 21, 2009, by the NCS’ management, allegedly on the directive of the Finance Minister.

    Justice Ejembi Eko, who read the lead judgment in an appeal marked: SC/491/2014, said Gusau was wrongly retired.

    The judgment, copy of which The Nation obtained yesterday, was delivered on April 7.

    The relationship between Gusau and the NCS was with statutory flavour and not that of ordinary master-servant, in which the servant holds his employment at the pleasure of the master.

    Justice Eko upheld the July 11, 2014 judgment of the Court of Appeal in appeal marked: CA/A/248/2013, voiding Gusau’s premature retirement.

    Other members of the panel are the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, Musa Dattijo Muhammad, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Sidi Dauda Bage.

    NCS was said to have retired Gusau on the ground that he stayed more than 10 years in a rank. His mates then are now Deputy Comptrollers General (DCGs), while others have since retired as DCGs two years ago.

    Gusau challenged his retirement at the Federal High Court in Abuja, but lost. He appealed to the Court of Appeal, which reversed his retirement and ordered his reinstatement.

    The NCS, the Comptroller of Customs, the Ministry of Finance and the NCS Board appealed to the Supreme Court, an appeal which the appex court dismissed in the April 7 judgment.

    Gusau, who was elated about the judgement, claimed that he was unceremoniously retired four days after he uncovered over N1.3 billion fraud via online audit through the Single Good Declaration (SGD) when he was Comptroller Post Clearance Audit (PCA ) NCS HQ.

    He said the fraud was uncovered in only 20 SGD while hundreds of SGD were generated daily.

    Gusau said he wrote a report on the alleged fraud on December 17th and was retired on December 21, 2009.

  • Senate angry as Customs chief Ali shuns invitation

    Senate angry as Customs chief Ali shuns invitation

    ‘I won’t appear because of order’

    Court can’t stop us, says Senate

    Customs chief Hameed Ali will not appear before the Senate today.
    Senators have been insisting that the Comptroller-General should appear “in uniform” to explain the planned enforcement of duty collection on old vehicles.
    Col. Ali told reporters in Abuja yesterday that he would stay away from the Senate in deference to a court order.
    Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami also wrote to the Senate, urging it to suspend its invitation to the Customs CG because of the court matter.
    But the Senate insisted that no court could stop it from carrying out its constitutional duty. A source said the lawmakers might consider issuing a warrant for Col. Ali’s arrest.
    Col. Ali told reporters after attending a meeting at the Presidential Villa that “the case is in court already”.
    ”Somebody has sued us. It is subjudice. I have got my writ of summons and they said status quo ante should remain, which means nothing should move until the court makes a pronouncement,” he said, adding:
    “A private individual sued all of us; he wants an interpretation of the section that is in contention. I don’t want to talk so that I am not held in contempt of court.”
    The plantiff is Mohammed Ibrahim, a lawyer.
    The originating summons in the suit with the National Assembly and the Attorney General of the Federation as defendants seek, among many other things, a clarification on “whether the appointment of Ali by the President, having been made pursuant to sections 5 and 171 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) can be subjected to the provisions of the Customs and Excise Act or any other law; whether there is any legal provision that prescribes the wearing of uniform as a condition precedent by the 1st defendant (Ali) in view of his appointment under Section 171 of the 1999 Constitution (as emended).
    Col. Ali also told some reporters: “Based on the advice from lawyers and briefing from the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice who is also a party in the suit, I won’t be appearing before the Senate tomorrow until the court decides otherwise”.
    Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, confirmed the receipt of the AGF letter. “There is a communication, although I have not seen the content. So, I won’t be able to make any categorical comment on it, “he said and insisted that the court had no power to stop the Senate from conducting its constitutional duty.

  • Senate mis-steps on Customs chief Ali

    Senate mis-steps on Customs chief Ali

    To activist-lawyer Femi Falana, the Senate has taken every step in the wrong direction in its faceoff with Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Hameed Ali, a retired Colonel. In this article, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) explains why the Red Chamber lacks the constitutional competence to invite the Customs’ chief on policy matters and compel him to appear before it in uniform. He also explains the illegality of an attempt by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to collect additional duties from vehicle owners who had paid the duties charged at the time of importation. 

    Directive on uniform wearing wrong

    The timely reaction of the Senate to the policy of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to compel all vehicle owners to pay appropriate duties has once again questioned the extent of the oversight powers of the National Assembly. In contributing to the interesting debate, I shall examine the legal validity of the policy, the legal competence of the Senate to summon the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) to justify the policy and the legality of the directive that he should appear before the Senate in uniform.

    Customs errs on payment of appropriate duties.

    We are aware that the NCS has announced the suspension of the implementation of the policy to compel all vehicle owners in Nigeria to pay appropriate customs duties from March 13-April 12, 2017.  Notwithstanding the suspension we deem it fit to point out that the policy is illegal as the NCS is completely estopped from collecting additional duties from vehicle owners who had paid the duties charged at the time of importation. Under the doctrine of estoppel, by conduct, the NCS cannot be permitted to deny the payment of what was charged and collected as appropriate duties from vehicle owners several years ago.
    In Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji v Board of Customs (1982) 3 NCLR 552, the armed agents of the defendant invaded and raided markets in Lagos and seized contraband goods. In the process, some of the traders were brutalised. They sued the defendant for damages in the Lagos High Court. Apart from condemning the violations of the traders to dignity, the Lagos High Court cautioned: “Those in authority in customs and excise matters ought to intensify methods for apprehending offenders at the point of entry of goods into the country as it becomes more difficult to do so afterwards.” In Margaret Stitch v Attorney-General of the Federation (1986) 2  NSSC 1389,  the Supreme Court held that the appellant  was only liable to pay the customs duty based upon the rate of duty payable when she imported her used Mercedes Benz car. It was the view of the apex court that it was unjust and retrospectively punitive to impose an additional financial liability of about N13, 000 on the appellant.
    In view of the settled position of the law on the matter what is required on the part of the management of the NCS is not a suspension of the illegal policy but its outright annulment without any further delay. Of course, the authorities of the NCS cannot be precluded from arresting and prosecuting highly placed individuals who usually forge importation documents in order to evade the payment of the appropriate duties to the coffers of the Federal Government.

    Senate’s incompetence to summon CGC on policy matters

    Under the pretext of exercising its oversight powers last week, the Senate summoned the CGC to appear before it to justify the policy on payment of appropriate duties from March 13 – April, 2017. Since he did not appear in uniform the Senate decided to adjourn its debate on the matter to enable him to comply with the directive.  In spite of the importance attached to the trifle and diversionary directive on uniform, it is submitted that the Senate lacks the vires to summon the CGC on policy matters. Indeed, the oversight power of either house of the National Assembly is not at large but limited by Section 88 (2) of the Constitution to enable it to “make laws with respect to any matter within its legislative competence and correct any defects in existing laws and  expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriate by it.”
    Since the decision of the Senate has nothing to do with making laws or exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste in the disbursement of funds appropriated by it, the summoning of the CGC constitutes a blatant violation of the Constitution. No doubt, the policy was designed to generate revenue for the Federal Government. To that extent , the Senate may be accused of shielding criminal elements who have engaged in the evasion of the payment of customs duties. If the Senate had wanted to protect the interests of vehicle owners, including themselves, they ought to have entered into dialogue with the Minister of Finance. There is no legal, or moral basis for the arrogance of power being displayed by the Senate, whose leadership has recently being linked with the illegal importation of a bullet proof limousine with fake papers to evade the payment of appropriate customs duties.
    In El-Rufai v House of Representatives (2003) 46 W.R.N 70, the Court of Appeal placed heavy reliance on the case of Senate of the National  Assembly v Tony Momoh, where it was held that “No power exists under the section for general investigation not for personal aggrandisement of the house. So, the appellants were not entitled to have invited the respondent in the first instance. In the instant case, the Senate is not conducting an investigation but challenging the policy of the NCS on payment of duties. With respect, the summons served on the CGC is illegal and unconstitutional as it cannot be justified under Section 88(2) of the Constitution.

    CGC can’t be compelled to appear in uniform

    However, the Senate engaged in another illegality when it exceeded its powers by asking the CGC to appear before it in customs uniform. Neither the Constitution, nor the Rules of Procedure of the Senate has conferred on it the power to compel the CGC to wear customs union when he is not a serving customs officer. Indeed, the directive is a reckless usurpation of the powers of the Board which is the only competent body to decide on the wearing of uniform by customs officers.
    In many countries, including South Africa, customs officers do not wear uniforms. It is on record that the first four heads of the Customs department in Nigeria never wore uniforms.
    Under the defunct military junta, officials of the security agencies wore uniforms as they claimed that they were either military or paramilitary forces. With respect to the customs service, its officers are required to wear uniforms in accordance with Section 8 of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service Regulations which provides that “clothing and equipment shall be of such pattern and worn in such manner as the Board shall determine.” The suit challenging the legal validity of Col Hameed Ali’s appointment has been dismissed on the ground that the President has the power to appoint a non-customs officer to head the customs service. Since a competent court has held that he is not a customs officer, Col. Ali cannot be made to wear any uniform by the Senate.
    If I am said to be wrong, I challenge the Senate to refer to any law that supports the wearing of uniform by the head of the customs service who is not a serving customs officer. The EFCC has been headed by three serving police officers and a retired police officer, but the Senate never mandated any of them to wear uniform whenever they appeared before it. Even the embattled acting chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu who appeared for confirmation in the senate last week was not directed to wear his uniform even though he is a serving police officer.
    I should not be understood as saying that the Senate deserves to be treated with disdain. All I am saying is that the Senate should have appreciated the limit of its powers under the Constitution. Thus, instead of playing into the hands of the CGC by invoking the provision of section 88 of the Constitution the Senate could have summoned the Minister of Finance to justify the policy of the Nigeria Customs Service, a parastatal under her supervision. That would have been in consonance with section 67 (2) of the Constitution which has imposed a duty on every Minister to attend either House of the National Assembly to explain “the conduct of his Ministry, and in particular when the affairs of the Ministry are under discussion.”
    Finally, the NCS should be directed by the Minister of Finance to cancel the illegal policy on payment of appropriate excise duties. If the Federal Government remains recalcitrant on the matter we shall not hesitate to challenge the policy at the Federal High Court. However, if the Federal Government is seriously committed to end the importation of vehicles into Nigeria via neighboring countries, it should direct the NCS to reduce the prohibitive duties charged on imported vehicles.

  • Corruption: Customs chief reads riot act to officers

    The Comptroller- General of Nigeria Customs and Excise, Col Hameed Ali (rtd) has warned officers and men of the agency to desist from acts of indiscipline and corruption.

    Col. Ali issued the warning at Idiroko, Ipokia Local Government, during a familiarisation tour of Ogun Area Customs Command.

    He urged men of the command to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations of the agency in the discharge of their duties.

    He said: “I am here to meet with my officers and men. I feel that it is important to see your work environment and interact with you. I have made it a point that when I go round, I usually have salient points to emphasize because there is need to be on the same page in order to make customs service better.

    “The basic thing is discipline especially in a para-military organization like ours. Without discipline, nothing can be achieved. I want to say that in customs service today, discipline is lacking.

    “I am not saying that all the officers are undisciplined, but some of those that are undisciplined are the one giving us a bad name. Enforcement is lacking, people commit infractions, many of our men collect money under the table and that creates the impression that we are corrupt in the eyes of the public.

    “Henceforth, we have zero tolerance for corruption and indiscipline. When you do any of these things mentioned, we will punish you. Any officer caught taking bribe or conniving with smugglers would not only be charged to court and jailed but would also forfeit their illegally acquired property.”

    Expatiating, Col Ali warned officers to desist from rejecting new postings and training programmes.

    “Under no circumstance must any officer refuse to be posted or refuse to go to where he or she has been asked to serve. You should desist from refusing to attend courses because training is also part of career development and uplift. Promotion shall henceforth be based on courses attended, promotion examination and evaluation of performance.

    “I have also discovered that some officers have been promoted two steps above their colleagues because they have godfathers. That would henceforth stop because it is setting the service on the path of indiscipline.

    “Officers will be moved or redeployed every three years. And gone are the days when junior officers would look at their senior colleagues and spew out words of insubordination without being punished.

    “Officers must strictly adhere and apply the law governing our operations at all times. My parting words are that you must have integrity; be honest and transparent. When you imbibe these three virtues, chances of going wrong in the discharge of duty will be minimised.”

    During the visit, the leadership of licensed freight forwarders in Idiroko community called for the rehabilitation of the major roads leading in and out of the border area and reduction of import duty.

    The customs chief, however, urged the freight forwarders to comply with the Federal Government policy on import duty for a mutually beneficial relationship with customs service.

    Col Ali also inspected facilities at the customs command including vehicles and other goods seized from smugglers.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Area Controller of Customs in Ogun State, Mr. Haruna Mamudu, enumerated both the achievements of the command and some of the challenges encountered so far in curbing smuggling.

    He said: “The revenue collection of the command has been progressive since I assumed office in December 2013. In 2014, N6.6 billion was collected as against N5.4 billion in 2013. From January-September 2015, the command collected N5.154 billion as against N4.636 billion collected within the same period in 2014. The command has so many illegal routes with Benin Republic, notwithstanding, we are making progress in the command’s campaign against smugglers. From January to September this year, the command made 778 seizures which include 466 vehicles as against 1085 seizures in 2014.Also from June 2014 to March 2015, 65 trucks of seized rice (39,400 bags) from our warehouse in Abeokuta and Idiroko was delivered to internally displaced persons in Bauchi through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as directed by the headquarters.