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Tag: customs

  • Customs retirees allege eviction from homes

    Customs retirees allege eviction from homes

    •It’s  not true, says spokesman

    SOME Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) retirees living in Gowon Estate at Ipaja, Lagos, have cried out over plans to eject them.

    The retirees told reporters that their verification  by the NCS Zone ‘A Headquarters  was against a court’s ruling.

    The verification, they claimed, was a prelude to their forcible ejection.

    But the NCS said the verification  was to ascertain the state of the property.

    The retirees occupy 12 blocks of 192 flats and 10 bungalows  at 511 Road and 52 Road, A close, which were allocated to them 23 years ago.

    Their spokesman, Augustine Nodu Umeadi, said: “We were allocated these flats and houses when we were in service and have been living there for 23 years”.

    They alleged that they were being treated differently from the staff of  the army, police, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, News Agency of Nigeria, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and others who were also allocated quarters in the  estate. They said  those ones had  since benefited from the sale of the apartments.

    “Even the two blocks of 32 flats meant for customs officers in FESTAC Town have been sold to them. So why the segregation or why is our own case different?” they queried, adding :

    “After all FHA Gowon Estate is not customs barracks. We are retired and old and we don’t know why we should be suffering after serving our fatherland. Our monthly pension is not enough for us to feed ourselves and members of our families not to talk of paying house rent or building houses’’.

    They urged the government, through the FHA, to stop NCS from ejecting them  and also complete the process of selling their flats to them since they have expressed interest in the property and also paid the requisite N10,000 fee.

    NCS Public Relations Officer Joseph Atah said the verification was to find out if those occupying the property were still qualified to remain there or not  because the property is for customs officers.

    “The blocks of flats were given to customs and the flats were given to the occupants as customs officers and it is on that basis that they are staying there,” he said.

  • Customs plan policy to mop up arms

    Customs plan policy to mop up arms

    …targets N1.5tr this year

     

    The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hammed Ali (rtd) on Friday said that the service would soon come up with a policy to mop up arms that were circulating in the Nigeria’s publics.

    The policy, according to him, would be not only to checkmate the influx of weapons into the country, but also to control the coming of other illicit items.

    He made the disclosure to stakeholders at the 2018 International Customs Day in Gwagwalada, Abuja. The theme of the ceremony was “A secure business environment for economic development.”

    Ali revealed that managing boarders had become the most difficult issue and to tackle the challenge, the West African region formed the “SPC plus, plus” comprising of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

    He noted that the “idea was to sit as Customs Services and “look at our boarders and look at how it is managed. The global problem for the Customs is managing boarders, especially for Nigeria, where we have 4,070kilometer of land boarders. There is nowhere in the world that anyone can extensively cover that.

    “We need the collaboration with each and everyone of us. We need to join hands with our neighbours and that is only how we can effectively police our boarders and ensure what we see in Libya and other countries that arms do not find their way into our territory.

    “Already we have enough of it, and I hope we will soon come up with a policy on how to retract these arms that are circulating within our publics. But why we are doing that we thought we should also come up with a comprehensive mechanism to be able checkmate not only weapons arms but all illicit items into our territory.”

    The Customs boss however announced that the service had unofficially banned the importation of rice.

    According to him, the Central Bank of Nigeria, responsible for the issuance of Form N for the importation of rice, had not issued it to any importers since 2017.

    He concluded that any parboiled rice that that was not locally produced in Nigeria must have been smuggled into the country.

    Urging Nigerians to ensure that their cooks and stewards buy locally produced rice, he said that whoever patronized imported rice was encouraging smuggling.

    The Customs boss noted that a country cannot be said to be truly independent if it could feed itself.

    Ali said that “I am very happy to support what Mr. President said in his New Year address, that this year that we would ban the importation of rice completely.

    “As at today, unofficially, rice is banned because since the beginning of 2017, Central Bank which is supposed to issue Form N which is the only permit for importation has not issued any form N to rice importer.

    “So, any parboiled rice you see, which is not our own local rice must have been smuggled in. So, if you go to buy this, then you are encouraging the smugglers and therefore negating the growth of our economy.

    “Any country that cannot feed itself cannot claim to be independent and I think we want to be independent.”

    Speaking, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun announced that owing to the improvement in revenue collection that the NCS recorded last year, the ministry was working to ensure an increased salary package and condition of service for the personnel.

    The Director of Finance, Mojisola Apata, who represented her noted that the service was making revenue available for the three tiers of government, noting that “we are desirous of a better performance this year. ”

    Ali corroborated that the minister and Mr. President had been working to achieve an improved salary for the service.

    Asked how much revenue, the NCS was targeting to achieve this year, he said that “it is our prayer that we should be able to overshoot what we had done last year. It is our prayer that we should be able to get to N1.5trillion this year.”

    The Comptroller-General said that the NCS had commissioned its own Customs police to police the service, and operate as an internal mechanism to resolve disputes.

    He was grateful to the Chief of Army Staff for allowing the service to use the Nigerian Military police School, Zaria to train his officers. Ali stressed that the NCS would be requesting other arms of military to train the officers for specialization.

  • Customs rejects another window for motor dealers

    Customs rejects another window for motor dealers

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has foreclosed granting of fresh window allowing members of Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) to pay duty on the vehicles in their parks across the country.

    Customs Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, who disclosed this at the weekend, said it will not be in the interest of the nation for the service to grant amnesty to goods smuggled into the country.

    Speaking with The Nation in Abuja, he said: “But Customs exists and ensures that the fiscal policies of government are implemented. It is not in the interest of the nation to allow people smuggle things in and say grant us amnesty. Otherwise, there will be amnesty about everything in this country.”

    The association had in November last year appealed to the NCS to grant its members another opportunity to submit the vehicles in their shops for duty payment instead of running the risk of seizure by Customs operatives.

    Its National President, Prince Ajibola Adedoyin, had said the six months ultimatum that the service granted vehicles dealers to pay duties on imported vehicles  already in their shops was too short.

    He insisted that the short notice had culminated in the inability of the dealers to meet up with the payment and later resulted in the endless regular onslaught on their businesses and seizures of 400 vehicles worth N1.7billion.

    The association urged the Federal Government to reduce the duty pay value on vehicles from 35 to 20 per cent.

    Adedoyin, who spoke with The Nation on phone, revealed plans by the association to write the Presidency to request for an appointment with President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter.

    But the NCS spokesman said the service would not allow the dealers a fresh window to pay duty for the cars already imported into their parks.

    “Unfortunately we are not policy makers. We only implement the policy that is fixed by the government. It is not the duty of Customs to either reduce or add to the duty rates.

    “So, whatever the government fixes will be used,”Attah said.

    He said: “I don’t know about the six weeks ultimatum. If you are referring to the window that was given and not taken advantage of, you will recall it was misunderstood and as a responsive and responsible organization we had to put it on hold.”

     

  • Customs targets N1.3tr revenue in 2018

    Customs targets N1.3tr revenue in 2018

    Although the Federal Government is yet to set a 2018 revenue generation target for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the management plans to collect N1.3trillion this year.

    The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, who disclosed this to our Abuja correspondent in his office, added that the organization hopes to work harder to exceed the target.

    “Just the way we achieved last year. Last year, you will recall that we achieved N1,037,102,179,400.58. So, we hope to sustain and even improve on what we did last year that enabled us to hit the mark that had never been done before.”

    According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to stop importation of rice will not lower the expected collections for the year, it would rather spur revenue generation from excise duty.

    The NCS, said Attah, is now tilting its attention towards encouraging export instead of depending on revenue from import. 

    He also noted that the service was looking forward to receiving new patrol vehicles that will facilitate the policing of the boarders to enhance compliance with exit from rice importation. 

    He added the stoppage of rice importation would lead to creation of job opportunities for the unemployed youths and bring about improved standard of living for the citizenry.

     

  • One shot dead in Customs, ‘smugglers’ row

    One shot dead in Customs, ‘smugglers’ row

    A passenger, Toheeb Olayiwola, was killed  yesterday during a chase of some suspected rice smugglers by some Customs officers.

    Two others were injured in the incident which happened at Abule-Egba on the Lagos – Abeokiuta Expressway.

    Witnesses said operatives of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) were on the trail of the LT bus suspected to be conveying smuggled rice.

    The FOU oversees Customs operations in Lagos and Ogun states.

    The Customs men chased the   bus from Sango-Ota  in  Ogun State to Abule-Egba, Lagos.

    Traffic stood still, with people scampering to safety as guns boomed.

    Some witnesses told our correspondent that the late Olayiwola was a passenger and not a smuggler.

    One of the passengers, Yemi Saheed, said: “The vehicle is a commercial bus and we were coming from Sango-Ota and the driver of the bus stopped when he noticed the Customs vans trailing the bus. While we were still inside the bus, the driver alighted to inquire why he was being followed and about six Customs men that alighted from their vans surrounded our bus and shot indiscriminately killing the boy (Olayiwola), who was also a passenger.”

    The  driver, Ajayi Olayinka, said he was conveying the rice to Agege for the owner.

    He said: “I am not a smuggler and I don’t ply the Idiroko border route. I ply Sango-Agege route every day and I am used to carrying goods including foodstuff for traders and passengers who purchased them at Sango Market. I had just five passengers and about 10 bags of rice which a trader asked me to convey to Agege. Suddenly, I noticed that some Customs men riding in two operational vehicles were following me and I stopped at Abule-Egba to inquire from them why they were trailing me unnecessarily.

    ‘’Two of the Customs men blocked my vehicle and demanded to know what I was having in the bus and I told them that I was conveying 10 bags of rice for a passenger.  As I was trying to explain further, their colleagues came down from their vans and shot indiscriminately at my bus knowing full well that there were passengers inside the vehicle. In the process, three passengers were hit while they beat me with the butt of their rifles. Unfortunately, one of the passengers, a boy, who was shot in the head died instantly while two others who sustained gunshot injuries have been taken to a General Hospital. And knowing the consequences of what they did, the Customs men immediately shot into the air and escaped from the scene.

    The late Olayiwola’s brother, who identified himself as Muyideen at the scene, said the deceased’s widow was delivered of a  baby last Saturday.

    The body has been deposited at the Ikeja General Hospital morgue.

    The incident sparked public outrage, but Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives promptly moved in to douse tension.

    In a statement yesterday,  FOU’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jerry Attah,  said the Customs operatives were attacked by  suspected smugglers, who attempted   to resist arrest.

    He said a bus with unspecified bags of rice was being trailed by the Customs men  when the smugglers resorted to confrontation.

    He said no one was killed in the clash.

    The statement reads : ‘’  On January 17 (yesterday), at about 05:30am, operatives of the FOU, acting on a tip-off, traced one LT bus loaded with unspecified bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice from Sango area and eventually stopped it at Abule-Egba.

    ‘’Before he was finally halted at Abule-Egba, the driver started shouting and making inciting comments that attracted mob action against the officers with different dangerous weapons such as broken bottles, stones and cutlasses. Obviously, he had driven to where he could get his associates to help attack the Customs officers.

    ‘’Given support of the mob, he resisted lawful arrest and the other armed operatives fired shots in the air to disperse the raging mob but to no avail. As a responsible organisation, the officers retreated to avoid any casualty.  We appreciate and thank God that no life was lost as at the time of the confrontation even though two of our officers sustained injuries.

    ‘’For the avoidance of doubt, the fact that a smuggler has evaded scrutiny either by following unapproved route or compromising any officer does not guarantee that the smuggled item will not be seized anywhere it is found by patrol officers whose duty is to ensure compliance.’’

    Lagos Police spokesman, Mr. Chike Oti, a Superintendent (SP),  said: ‘’What happened was that some unidentified operatives of Customs Federal Operations Unit allegedly chased suspected smugglers around Abule-Egba area and allegedly opened fire on the vehicle thereby killing one of the people inside the bus by name Toheeb Olayiwola.

    ‘’ The body of the victim has been taken to the mortuary by an ambulance attached to the Lagos State Task Force, Alausa, Ikeja.’’

    The FOU Controller,  Mohammed Uba,  urged people to verify their facts before reacting to any development.

  • One feared dead, others injured in hoodlums, customs clash

    One feared dead, others injured in hoodlums, customs clash

    At least one person has been feared dead, and multiple others severely injured during a fatal clash between Nigerian Customs Service officials and suspected hoodlum gangs.

    Mojeed Olayiwola was allegedly shot when the Nigerian Customs Service officers attached to the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja trailed a bus perceived to be used for smuggling operations around Abule Egba.

    It was gathered that the officers acted on intelligence received about the use of buses by criminals to smuggle into the country bags of rice from neighboring Republic of Benin.

    The police source who identified the deceased said he was shot while inside a moving commercial bus by unidentified customs officers.

    But authority in charge of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Ikeja debunked incidence of death, saying the fracas was between suspected smugglers of rice and the custom men who were performing enforcement duties.

    It was also learnt that the driver who was afraid of his consignment being seized drove recklessly from Sango-Ota area of Ogun to Abule-Egba.

    According to witnesses, the driver jumped out of the bus at anintersection at Abule-Egba, to get help from colleagues.

    A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Femi Adurogba, who witnessed the incident said that the fleeing driver started calling for help from his members.

    He said as soon as the group sighted the customs vehicle approaching, the smugglers, started hauling stones and other items at the customs men.

    He said: “The custom men opened fire, but someone who was still inside the bus was hit by a bullet. This made the onlookers to charge after the approaching custom vehicles. The group wages war on the custom men, threatening to retaliate the death of one of their own. It was the timely arrival of policemen and soldiers attached to Ops Mesa to dis pass the hoodlums who were spoiling for war.”

    A commercial bus driver, Chukwudi Emerole, alleged that what worsened the situation was an attempted by the hoodlums to prevent the custom men from go away with the vehicle.
    According to him, the driver of the vehicle, in a bid to resist arrest, struggled t disarm one of the custom men.

    He said: “One of them even dared the security men to shoot him as if they can. They were behaving as if bullet can not penetrate them.”

    Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chike Oti, who confirmed the incident said that the deceased was inside a bus when he was allegedly shot at by a yet to be identified customs officer, stressing that the deceased was not one of the hoodlums who attacked the custom men.

    But in a swift reaction, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) FOU Zone A, Ikeja, Jerry Attah, said that no one died as reported by some online media.

    He said: ” The attention of the Controller Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, has been drawn to reports by some online media to the effect that some Officers of FOU Zone A, shot one unknown smuggler whose bus was conveying smuggled rice at Abule Egba Area of Lagos State. The report is the figment of the reporter’s imagination, which is capable of misleading the general public hence the need to state the true facts as follow:

    ” On the January 17, 2018, at about 5.30am, Operatives of the Federal Operations Unit acting on a tip-off traced one LT Bus Loaded with unspecified bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice from Sango Area and eventually stopped it at Abule Egba. Before he was finally halted at Abule Egba, the driver started shouting and making inciting comments that attracted mob action against the officers with different dangerous weapons such as broken bottles, stones and cutlasses. Obviously, he had driven to where he could get his associates to help attack the Customs Officers.

    “Given support of the mob, he resisted lawful arrest and the other armed operatives fired shots in the air to disperse the raging mob but to no avail. As a responsible organization, the Officers retracted back to avoid any casualty. We appreciate and thank God that no life was lost as at the time of the confrontation even though two of our Officers sustained injuries. For the avoidance of doubt, the fact that a smuggler has evaded scrutiny either by following unapproved route or compromising any Officer does not guarantee that the smuggled item will not be seized anywhere it is found by patrol officers whose duty is to ensure compliance.”

  • Customs rakes in N5.9b, arrests 179 suspects

    Customs rakes in N5.9b, arrests 179 suspects

    The Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS ), Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ Ikeja, Lagos,  generated N5.9billion from its anti-smuggling operations last year, and arrested 179 suspects.

    Speaking with The Nation yesterday,  its Area Controller, Mohammed Uba Garba, said the unit intercepted contraband with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of  N4,004,258,331.52 between January and December last year.

    The unit recovered  N1,956,022,531.65 from duty payments and demand notices on  goods imported through seaports, airports and land borders.

    “In 2017, we arrested 179 suspects in connection to these 1,046 different seizures comprising foreign parboiled rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable oil, smuggled vehicles, Indian hemp, arms, fake pharmaceutical/medicaments and various general merchandise.

    ” In spite of the challenges we faced last year, we happy to say that we recorded the highest seizures and revenue so far in the history of Federal Operations, Ikeja, ” he said.

    Mohammed attributed the feat to the leadership provided by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, and his management team for their efforts in recognising hard work and putting square begs in square holes.

    Without the Management motivation and necessary logistic support, he said, “we won’t have achieved this feat within this period.”

    The Controller also commanded the commitment and diligence of his officers and men for thwarting the antics of some dare devil smugglers who used different methods to deceive the service.

    Mohammed urged his officers to be professional and diligent in carrying out their responsibilities.

    “All hands must be on deck in the fight against these economic saboteurs who mean no good for the economy. We appreciate the efforts of all security and sister agencies like the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police, NDLEA,NAFDAC, SON and their cooperation towards winning the war against smuggling within our area of operation,” he said.

  • No hiding place for rice smugglers, says Customs

    No hiding place for rice smugglers, says Customs

    Customs will implement the presidential policy to end rice importation, Customs said yesterday.

    President Muhamamdu Buhari, in his  New Year broadcast, dropped the hint of a total stoppage of rice import this year.

    Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Public Relations Officer Joseph Attah  told The Nation that the fight against rice smuggling would be easier.

    He said: “We have been fighting rice smuggling and if there is a total stoppage in seaport, land borders and all that, I think criminals will no longer have a hiding place. The difficulty of knowing whether this rice came from seaport or land border will be totally out of the picture. As long as it is not locally produced rice, it is a smuggled rice. So, they cannot hide under any guise.”

    Asked how prepared the service is to implement the policy, the spokesman said: “We are prepared. With the support of the government, any moment from now we will be taking over vehicles and other working equipment. So, we are going to be better equipped this year and that will also boost our activities to deal with not only rice smuggling, but also to deal with smuggling of any prohibited items.”

    Attah added that the challenge he envisaged in the implementation of the policy was that of the unpatriotic Nigerians who haboured smugglers.

    The PRO said: “There will be no other new challenges rather than the challenges we have been facing. I will rather say that we will appeal for support from Nigerians.

    “People should look at smugglers as enemies of the state. And the act of smuggling itself is a crime and this means no good for Nigeria and Nigerians. The more we continue to expose them to customs the better we do.

    “But in a situation where a fellow Nigerian will provide shelter to smugglers to hide could be a challenge. We appeal to all to support and understand that fighting smugglers is a collective responsibility.

    “They should do their own by providing the solution to us by exposing smugglers so that they don’t have any hiding place.”

  • Stop cashew smugglers, traders urge Customs, others

    The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has raised the alarm over the invasion of the cashew nuts business by some unscrupulous businessmen and smugglers.

    The association, therefore, urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to stop smugglers of the product, noting that their activities were making the business difficult for traders and depriving the country of huge revenue.

    Investigations revealed that over 50 per cent of cashew nuts produced in the country were being smuggled through Kwara, Oyo and Ogun states to Benin, Ghana and Mali, from where the nuts are exported to India and Vietnam.

    A member of the group, Mr. Ajayi Emmanuel, said Benin Republic, Ghana, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire had become major markets where the crop fetches a premium in the international market for smugglers.

    He alleged that the merchants receiving the smuggled commodity were branding Nigerian cashew as their own, adding that the illegal trend had weakened the nation’s export.

    “Based on the activities of smugglers, the country lacks adequate tonnage of cashew going out through the land borders and because of the illegal trade, Nigeria has been losing huge sums of revenue. There is high concentration of smuggling of the product at the porous borders in Ogun, Oyo and Kwara states.

    “The volume of the smuggled product is larger than those passing through the seaports legitimately,” Emmanuel lamented.

    Noting that this had affected the price structure of the commodity, he urged Customs in collaboration with other security agencies to intervene and block all the loopholes.

    The exporter insisted that the Federal Government should ban the smuggling of the product. He also asked the NCS and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to enforce the law in order to create jobs.

  • Customs seizes goods worth N11bn in 11 months

    Customs seizes goods worth N11bn in 11 months

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it seized 3, 870 with a duty paid value (DPV) of N11.2 billion from January to November 2017.

    NCS Public Relations Officer Mr Joseph Attah, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja that this was against the 5,602 goods worth N10.2 billion seized within the same period in 2016.

    Attah said the volume of seizures made in 2017 increased over last year’s because of the massive seizure of expensive vehicles.

    He said the successes recorded in 2017 were the results of the steps taken in 2016 by the NCS Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), towards reforming the service

    “Between January and November 2016 – this is general seizure – a total 5, 602 assorted seizures were made.

    “Within that period, 335 persons were arrested in connection with the seizures; some of them were granted bail; some of them had their cases pending, some had their cases  at advance stages.

    “In the same period of January and November this year, we recorded 3,870 seizures with 186 persons arrested in connection with these seizures.’’

    He said the high profile seizures were made, some of which included weapons, prohibited items, and exotic vehicles such as bullet-proof cars.

    “This year, we recorded more of high profile seizures beyond the 2,671 pump action riffles that cannot be valued; of course you know these are highly prohibited items that cannot be sold or auctioned; so automatically their value is not here.

    “We had exotic cars – bullet-proof cars that their values are more than N300 million.

    “The 5,602 seizures of 2016 between January and November amounted to N252, 408, 422 while that of 2017 – talking about 3,870 seizures, amounted to N11,237, 574,346.63.’

    The spokesman of the service said customs had reasons to believe that some financially strong smugglers had taken advantage of the country’s porous land borders and government policies to smuggle in items such as bullet-proof cars.

    “Recently, anti-smuggling operatives of the Federal Operation Unit Zone A, stormed a place in Lagos – a well fenced place and evacuated more than 50 exotic cars. So our anti-smuggling operation in 2017 was highly intelligence-driven and that led to the seizure of high profile and highly valuable items,’’ he said.