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Tag: customs

  • Customs to sue rice importers over N20b duty

    Customs to sue rice importers over N20b duty

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) may go to court to recover the N20 billion duty owed the Federal Government by rice importers, it has been learnt.

    It opted for legal action to deter other defaulters, sources said.

    Customs spokesman Wale Adeniyi said the agency had the government’s backing to recover the money, following the importers’ failure to meet the payment deadline.

    He said: “We are taking them to court very soon to ensure that the duty is fully paid.

    “We have briefed our lawyers and they are ready to take all the steps necessary to ensure that they are prosecuted. We are going to do everything necessary to compel them to pay. We may block them from our system so that they would not be able to process their papers or seal off their premises if we like.”

    The suit, it was learnt, may be filed next week at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    The importers are: Olam, Stallion/Popular Foods, Bua, Millan Nigeria Limited, Ebony Agro, Atafi Rice Industries Limited and Arewa Rice Mill.

    A source at the Federal Ministry of Finance said Customs’ Comptroller-General Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi directed the legal unit to work with some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to file the suit.

    Abdullahi also directed his officers to track down those involved in rice smuggling and other prohibited items.

    The directive followed last week’s decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop the sale of foreign exchange to importers of rice, poultry products, textile, tomato paste and other items.

    “Customs has vowed that it will no longer condone any form of duty evasion and rice smuggling across the country’s borders, irrespective of quantity and purpose of the carrier. New process and system reforms have been put in place by the management of the service to prevent the same duty evasion from happening again in the future. Customs is not just thinking about how to recover the unpaid duty but also how to prevent this from happening in the future.

    “Preventing duty evasion and smuggling in the future is not just a matter of justice but also a matter of economics and national interest. That is why Alhaji Dikko has created a single information technology (IT) platform to  see to the full implementation of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) for all transactions at the ports and border stations across the country,” the official said.

    Adeniyi described as “welcome” CBN’s decision to stop forex sales to importers of rice and agricultural items that can be produced locally.

    He berated importers who spend trillions of naira yearly to import rice and other items that can be produced locally and still refuse to pay Customs duty.

    “Many of our youths are jobless and that is why Customs is in full support of the CBN’s decision to stop sales of forex to rice importers. The money they are using in importing rice can be used to develop the local rice industry. Although, it will affect our revenue generation, the overall interest of the country and its people supersede the amount we are going to generate,” Adeniyi said.

    The implementation of the policy, he said, would help to conserve foreign reserves, revive moribund industries and create employment.

    On the possibility of smugglers raising their game, Adeniyi said the service is battle ready for them.

    “Based on the decision of the CBN to stop sales of forex to rice importers, my Comptroller-General has directed an increase in the current  patrols on land and sea and ordered our commands across the country to fortify all approved check points and other areas where  operational vehicles could not access with highly committed  officers.

    “Our officers and men have been mandated to find out all the new hide-out of smugglers who specialise in bringing into the country all prohibited items through the land, sea and the swampy areas. The CGC has also instructed them to beam their searchlight on towns and villages around the border areas where smugglers might want to use to bring in rice in large and small  quantity,” Adeniyi said.

     

  • Customs intercepts 2,000 bags of rice from smugglers

    The Western Marine Command of the Customs in  Lagos, has intercepted over 2,000 bags of rice and a boat from suspected  smugglers at Bawe Creek in Badagry.

    Some expired items including rice, drugs, second hand clothes and milk were also destroyed by the command.

    The operation was carried out on June 12, by a joint patrol team of the command.

    The seizures, according to the Customs Area Controller, Mr Umar Yusuf, also included 650 kegs of petrol; poultry products; fairly used clothes; assorted wines and vegetable oil among others.

    Three customs officers were injured by the smugglers during the operation.

    Yusuf vowed  that the command would track down the smugglers who injured his men.

    Yusuf told reporters that the hospitalized customs operatives were  stabbed on the head, hand and legs. “ Unfortunately for the smugglers, our men were recently trained on the use of AK 47 rifles which they used to fight back and this led to the smugglers fleeing and leaving their weapons behind,” he said.

    “In all, a big boat laden with over 2000 bags of parboiled rice; one long locally- made gun; a short gun; four knives and one machete was seized from the smugglers. No suspect was apprehended as the smugglers jumped into the river with gunshot wounds. We are ensuring that we track down the smugglers wherever they are and we will do so squarely because we are equal to the task.”

  • Customs spends over N30b on training, equipment

    • ANLCA, others praise Service on anti-smuggling war

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has spent over N30 billion on infrastructure, equipment and personnel training for enhanced performance, it has been learnt.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance, who pleaded not to be named, told The Nation that Customs spent the money to stop smugglers from destroying the economy.

    The official also said the Customs, last year, made 7,519 seizures valued at N8.78 billion. About 246 persons were arrested out of which 26 were convicted.

    Customs, he said, fought smuggling more intensely in 2014 than 2013.

    Investigation by The Nation showed that Customs officers have strengthened their presence at checkpoints, border stations, water ways and swampy areas where vehicles cannot access in a determined bid to stop smugglers.

    The official urged the Buhari administration to support Customs to bring the smugglers down.

    Customs, a source said, has acquired over 700 patrol vehicles, 6,000 A-K 47 assault rifles, patrol-boats, ocean-going vessels, two helicopters and air-craft for aerial surveillance of the nation’s borders and waters ways to put the smugglers under check.

    “The A-K 47 rifles were purchased by Customs to equip its officers and men for the war against smugglers and to stem nefarious importers of small arms.

    “The drop in seizures from smugglers since the beginning of the year is as a result of the enhanced vigour with which the anti-smuggling campaign has been carried out by Customs officials.

    “In Ogun State for instance, in the first four months of the year, the command recorded 361 seizures with Duty Paid Value (DPV) N319,967,32, as against 485 seizures with DPV of N508,942,136 made same period last year, which indicates a sharp drop of smuggling in the region.

    “During the period, the command generated N2,356,937,173.89 as against  the N1,985,420,606.16 collected same period in 2014, with a difference of N371,516,567.73.

    The official said it was wrong for anyone to import goods without paying duty.

    “Customs is faced with the enormous task of not only generating revenue to the Federal Government, but fighting crime-related activities, such as smuggling and importation of unwholesome products, through the nation’s porous borders into the country.

    “Most of our landed borders are hives of activities as the Customs commands have had to wage war against unauthorised importation and smuggling of products including rice, textile materials, vehicles, foot wares and other exportation of other goods that are prohibited from export,” the official said.

    Customs’ National Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr Wale Adeniyi said: “We are investing in massively on infrastructure. We have acquired patrol boats, ocean going vessels; we have got over 500 patrol vehicle to fight smugglers.

    “We also engage in capacity building for our officers and men, we have change the face of our training, mostly training that has to do with arm smuggling. We are partnering with army and have regular training with them.

    “We are also exploring the relationship we have with other Customs administrations, increased our border patrol based on the agreement we have with them. We are also training other agencies of the government. We have our aircraft that is doing air surveillance, we have to re-strategies to dismantle internal check points.

    Adeniyi added that the Service was training officials of other agencies of the government to boost their operation.

    Another official of the service, who does not want his name in print, said: “Before, when our officers and men confront these smugglers, they jump into water and our officers also jump into the water in an attempt to catch them and eventually got killed. The number of our officers that have died in the hands of smugglers is huge and that is why many of us are happy over the man power development in the service.

    “Smuggling is a worldwide phenomenon, even the most powerful countries of the world are still fighting smuggling up till today and they have not succeeded in eliminating cankerworm.

    “The best any Customs service or administration can do is to minimise it to the barest minimum,” the officer said.

    Meanwhile, the President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Prince Olayiwola Shittu has praised the Customs Service for reducing smuggling.

    He spoke at a stakeholders’ forum  in Lagos. Shittu said there was a significant drop in smuggling.

    “Smugglers are ingenious people. America is still fighting smuggling. Officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service have suffered many casualties in the hands of smugglers because they have superior fire power.

    “As the Army is trying to reduce the impact of the Boko Haram in the north, smugglers are the Boko Haram Customs has to face all over the country. Therefore, they need the total support of the current administration to carry out their core function of trade facilitation, revenue generation and to combat smuggling,” Shittu said.

     

  • Customs seizes goods with N41.322b duty paid value

    Customs seizes goods with N41.322b duty paid value

    Between 2009 and last year, a total of 34,485 seizures were  made with duty paid value of N41.322 billion, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has said.

    A Deputy Comptroller-General of the NCS Tahir Musa, who made this known yesterday during a meeting between the NCS and textile value chain stakeholders at the NCS Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja, said  the figure excludes recent seizures from Kano and the ones that were made over the weekend.

    Presenting a paper titled,  ‘Customs Anti-Smuggling Strategy: Issues and Challenges,’ he said the Federal Government is now paying attention to the revenue generated by the NCS following the global fall in government revenue as a result of the more than 50 per cent drop in oil prices. He said the Customs is next to the oil and gas sector in terms of revenue generation in Nigeria.

    Musa said: “Over this weekend the federal operation in Lagos zone seized more than 10,000 bags of rice on the Badagary boarders. The western marine also detected a vessel that was carrying over 2,000 bags.”

    According to him, the government has a high expectation from the service in order to ensure economic and national growth.

    He said: “A lot is expected of the NCS to ensure the sustenance of economy. One of the prominent role of the NCS is the generation of revenue, which is only second to the revenue generated from oil.”

    He described smuggling as an act of illegal importation or exportation into or out of the country without payment of duty and evasion of prohibition and restriction  order without legal document required for that purpose.

    Musa said smuggling encompasses false declaration, concealments, willful under-payment of customs duty, under-invoicing, over-invoicing, trafficking in prohibited or restricted goods.

    He said owing to the challenges that local manufacturers face, most of the goods are imported into the country by smugglers.

    Musa blamed smuggling on the preference for cheap imported goods, regretting that some companies that were booming in the past have gone down.

    The NCS, he said, has put  strategies in place to curb the menace of smuggling  with  reform measures.

    He said the Customs was able to convince the Federal Government to approve the  purchase of AK-47 and commando riffle to prosecute the anti-smuggling war, adding that no other agency has ever bought arms from the United States (U,S).

    He said:“The NCS has just acquired two high speed patrol boats that have the capacity to carry 30 men on board and has the endurance of two week in the high sea.”

     

  • Customs intercepts 8,000 bags of rice at Gbaji

    Customs intercepts 8,000 bags of rice at Gbaji

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operation Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’   has intercepted about 8,000 bags of smuggled rice at Gbaji, Badagry Area of Lagos State.

    The commodity which was shipped into the country through the Atlantic Ocean was seized by officers and men of the command based on intelligence reports.

    The suspected smugglers were said to have shipped the commodity through the Gbaji River for onward shipment by road when they were swooped on by officers of the command.

    Its Area Controller (CAC), Controller Adamu Turaki said: “Ostensibly aware of the implication of being met with the smuggled items, the suspected smugglers escaped through the water on sighting the arrival of our officers who carried out the operation.”

    Turaki said that efforts are being made to arrest and bring persons behind the unlawful act to book by making them face the full wrath of the law as a way of deterring others from smuggling.

    According to him: “As we enter the middle of the year, I  reminded all my officers of the Comptroller General’s zero tolerance for smuggling and other illegalities, while charging them to gear up to the challenges of the  period.”

    He warned smugglers not to ever contemplate using the area under his watch for smuggling as his men and officers are poised to apprehend and prosecute them no matter what it takes.

    His words: “This seizure is a direct message to all that  are involved in smuggling that they will not only be recording losses at any attempt, but they stand a great chance of going to jail as we are keen on matching seizures with suspects. Whoever wishes to import rice should do that through the nation’s seaports as approved by the federal government.

    The area controller explained that the anti smuggling functions of NCS was a strategic economic move by the government aimed at protecting the nation’s economy and preventing the influx of other prohibited items like arms, ammunition and hard drugs.

  • Customs, traders back ECOWAS external tariff

    The ECOWAS Common Ex-ternal Tariff (CET) will cre-ate more jobs, increase capacity utilisation of industries and boost trade among member-countries, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) have said.

    CET has been adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member-countries to enhance economic integration in the sub-region.

    Speaking at a workshop organised for maritime reporters in Abuja, Customs’ National Public Relations Officer Mr Wale Adeniyi said CET would create jobs and boost the country’s revenue base.

    “Multilateral commitment to treaties like ECOWAS and  other ones within the WTO (World Trade Organisation) is going to take a lot of tolls on our revenue base but its is good for the country.

    “We are going to be talking on how to support our local industries, and think of how many industries are operating despite the harsh economic environment to create jobs for the youth.

    “We are going to engage our stakeholders on how many graduates we able to employ as a country.

    “We are going to be turning to the ports and say how long does it take to process goods after declarations, how many good declarations do we received in a day?

    “We need to know the amount of time it takes to discharge goods from vessel and the time it takes to move them out of the ports.”

    Adeniyi urged the maritime reporters to assist Customs in enlightening the public on the importance of CET to the economy and job creation.

    NANTS National Secretary Ken Ukaoha called for the implementation of CET to boost regional trade among member countries.

    He said the non-implementation of the common tariff could lead to the disorganisation of the region.

    Ukaoha stressed the need to put necessary measures to ensure its implementation.

    “The Common External Tariff, if implemented, can help the region to grow; it can also help in achieving the distribution and redistribution of wealth across the region.

    ‘’CET can also work towards fast tracking poverty reduction, because you are creating jobs for the people.

    “It can also guarantee and help or assist consumer choice; and most importantly, it will help member countries come together and do things as one; it is an open door to common market operations in the region.

    “However, if you don’t implement very well, it can also lead to disorganisation of the region and disappearance of ECOWAS.

    “There must be some level of carefulness in the implementation of the CET, the enforcement of the laws, because we are porous, so that we do not allow third parties to benefit, while we lose and then become a dumping ground, our industries will stifled and die away.

    “There must be constant monitoring of the impact of the CET on the economy; the future is watching, history is waiting.”

    According to him, before CET, there have been laws and other protocols which have not been able to promote trade in the region.

     

  • Customs realises N712m at Seme

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Command, gen- erated N712.2 million revenue in April, its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Ernest Olottah, has said. The revenue is N61 million lower than the N773 million realised in March.

    “In the month of April, we generated lower because there was a slight drop in trading activities but as the year progresses, the revenue will get higher,” he said.

    Olottah said the command generated N9.6 billion in 2014, which was N3.4 billion less than the N13 billion targets for the year.

    He assured that the command would surpass the N13 billion target set for the command this year.

    The image maker said the command made 91 seizures in the month of April, with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N26.8 million.

    “There has been tremendous improvement in the seizures made.

    “The seized items include bags of rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable oil, vehicles, amongst others,” he said.

    The spokesman urged Nigerians to desist from smuggling due to its adverse effect on the economy.

    “Smuggling is not good for the economy so we must work together to save our economy and embrace legitimate trade.

    “Illegal trade erodes the national wealth so we must learn not to partake in such,” he said.

     

  • Customs siezes N319.7b textile materials from smugglers

    Customs siezes N319.7b textile materials from smugglers

    Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde yesterday in Kano expressed shock over the N319.7 billion worth of textile materials illegally concealed in 75 warehouses, saying such money could be used to build standard textile factories in the country.

    Inde, who was in Kano to assess contraband goods seized from four Chinese nationals, vowed to ensure that smugglers of the textile materials and their collaborators are brought to book to serve as deterrent to others.

    “We are investigating the suspects and in only one warehouse, the duty value of the goods in the warehouse we have checked, is N4.263, 556 billion. You can imagine that this only one warehouse and we are talking about 75 warehouses. You can imagine such a huge amount and we said we are looking for money to run the affairs of government,” he said.

    He said the operation was carried out by his office based on information from patriotic Nigerians who showed concern over the extent of damage being done to the nation’s economy by those who smuggle textile materials into the country.

    He, however, stated that while inspecting the seizures, NCS  saw those that can be allowed to enter the market.

    “For those that are allowed, I am going to give amnesty; but for those that are not allowed, I will never go against the law. We will block all the leakages,” he said.

    Inde said the NCS has continued to device means to curtail smuggling, adding that just recently, Comptroller-Generals of Customs in West Africa met in Abuja to discuss ways through which Customs can effectively fight smuggling.

    He said the Customs Service has concluded plans to organise a forum where traders, local producers and the Customs meet from time-to-time in order to foster relationship and bring down the wave of smuggling of contraband goods into the country.

    Also speaking, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, David  Paradang, said Immigration is collaborating with the NCS to regulate illegal migration into the country, just as he urged the public to feel free at all times to divulge relevant information to the two agencies.

    Four Chinese textile merchants were recently arrested by the Customs Comptroller General’s Anti-smuggling Task Force for illegally importing contraband and sub-substandard textile materials running into several billions of Naira.

  • Customs arrests two for breaking seal

    The Federal Operations Unit  Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Cus-toms Service (NCS) has arrested two persons for breaking the Customs seal on five exotic vehicles parked in their compound, The Nation learnt.

    The vehicles 2013 BRABUS G800 with Chassis No. 212718; 2009 Maybach 625 with Chassis No. 002513; 2009 Mclaren SLR with Chassis No. 001960; 2009 Aston Martin with Chassis No. 815026 and 2013 Ferrari 458 with Chassis No.195200.

    Their documents, it was gathered, were checked at the Customs office and it was found that they were grossly undervalued.

    The outstanding duty to be paid on them, The Nation learnt, is N232,964,169.

    The unit’s Controller, Turaki Adamu, told The Nation that the suspects violated Section 145(5) of the Customs and Excise Management Act Cap C45 laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.

    The men, it was gathered, have been charged to court.

    The case, findings revealed, is before Justice Saliu Seidu of the Federal High Court in Ikeja.

    The controller said his officers found that the vehicles parked in the suspects’ Ikeja GRA Lagos home were “grossly undervalued” during clearing in violation of the import policy.

    The unit, he said, wrote to the suspects that the vehicles did not comply with standard import procedure in terms of due diligence.

    “In line with the Service procedure and in our quest to recover appropriate duty accruable to the vehicles, we placed on them Customs seal after raising a detention notice which the surety had undertaken to pay,” he said.

    The Controller, however, alleged that instead of the surety to pay the duty, he broke the seal and removed the vehicles.

    The Customs, he said, was still investigating some other exotic cars that were evacuated from the same premises to ascertain the appropriateness of their clearing.

    The Controller said his officers found one of the vehicles on Victoria Island, Lagos.