Industrialists in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, under the aegis of Aba Industrialists Association (AIA), have appealed to the Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd), urging him to call the agency’s officials in the Southeast to order.
The industrialists accused Customs in the Southeast of extracting double duty charges from importers at the ports in Onne and Port Harcourt. The industrialists also said that after importers have cleared their goods, they are stopped on the way by Customs personnel who say whatever they paid at the ports are insufficient and should be made up there.
Chairman of AIA, Chief Emma Obi told newsmen in Aba:
“If one goes to these ports to clear goods, the Customs issues the person a document called PAAR which stipulates the duty payable on the goods. After paying the duty, the officers that would release the goods will now tell the person that the duty you paid, which you have the certificate, will be rejected and raises an additional huge sum of money to your normal duty, claiming that the PAAR raised by the office was insufficient. When the goods eventually leave the port, you must pass Customs checkpoints at Iriebe, Akpojo and Isiokpo, these three places are another war zones for importers of goods in the East. At these places, Customs men who operate under the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) will demand for clearance papers and release notes from the wharf. After receiving all these things, they will now tell you that you underpaid again despite the fact you paid import duty twice at the port.
“You will think they are joking, the next thing they will do is to push down the driver from the truck and employ a driver…to take it to their headquarters in Owerri, Imo State where they will begin to raise another import duty for the same goods cleared at the port.”
The spokesperson of the FOU zone C, Owerri, Chioma Onuoha debunked the allegations, saying her office, which is independent of states and ports commands, only seizes goods whose importers underpaid duty. She said that such underpayment arises mostly when the importer under-declares the cost and or quantity of goods imported and when such anomalies are discovered the importer would be made to pay the correct duty.
