The Nation Newspaper

Tag: customs

  • Customs generates N909.9m

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Seme Command generated N909.9 million last month.

    Its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Ernest Olottah, told The Nation that the amount was 13.92 per cent higher than the N783.2 million collected in the corresponding period in 2014.

    “In the month of January, we generated so much because trading activities were high since it is the beginning of the year.

    “As the year goes on, our revenue generation would get higher and we will definitely be able to surpass our monthly target of N1.1 billion,” he said.

    Olottah said the command generated N9.6 billion in 2014, adding that the figure was 3.4 billion less than the N13 billion target for the year.

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

    He said the command made 52 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) N14.5 million.

    “The items that were seized included cars, hard drugs, rice, vegetable oil, paints, second hand clothes, frozen poultry products and general goods.

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

    “Smuggling isn’t good for the economy, so we must work together to save our economy and embrace legitimate trade.

    “In the course of importing and exporting any products, protocol must be observed by paying levies and duties to the Nigeria Customs Service as required by the law,” Olottah said.

     

  • ‘Fake’ Customs officer nabbed for fraud

    ‘Fake’ Customs officer nabbed for fraud

    A ‘fake’ Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC), Raji Ramoni, has been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command.

    Other members of his four-man gang are: Thomas Adekunle, 52, Ibrahim Galadima, 39 and Thomas Benz, 50.

    Sources said the suspects were arrested for duping a woman of N800, 000, under the pretence of selling her car on auction.

    She said, when her husband discovered she had fallen into the hands of a four-man fraud syndicate, he reported the care to the police.

    Ramoni, a native of Okene in Kogi State, said the desperation to feed his family led him into the illegal act.

    “I was working in Five Star extile Mill at Isolo, Lagos, between 1984 and 1988. I was sacked by an Indian for fighting him when he asked me why I damaged company machine. I have nine children. I was desperate to get something doing to feed my family,” he said.

    Raji said he used names, such as Shitu Musa and Yakubu Lawal, with the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Customs, depending on the job and the customs office they were going.

    He said: “I have been doing this work for a long time and had been arrested three times. The first was at Abuja, the second was at Zone 2 and this time, SARS Lagos State Police Command. We used brains not guns to collect money from victims. The rank is to enable victims believe us and to get respect from all the law enforcement agents.

    “I joined this syndicate because of how my wife was treating me. I was going about looking for job to take care of my family when I met one Lateef Oshodi now late. He told me to bring N250, 000 so that he will give me $1.2 million. I also gave him money to buy chemical to wash the dollars for me. Before I realised what was happening, I had joined them.

    “I decided to use Customs officer as a decoy because I used to go to Apapa, Ikeja, Idiroko offices of the Customs. I also go to Customs Training School in Ikeja to drink beer and pepper soup with my friends.

    “I bought the uniform and the rank for N5, 000. I first bought three stars (DSC); I have three wives but I sacked two because they were not intelligent and clever to my taste. I have three names and operate with two names and the ranks.”

    Adekunle from Itaido village in Ekiti State said his role was to seek out victims.

    Galadima from Makoro village in Kano said: “I am an artist. I have account in the bank and the gang gave my account number to victims to pay in money. Benz acted as a foreigner based in London or America.

  • Customs loses over N48b to waivers

    • ‘Policy should be reviewed to reflect economic reality’

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) lost over N48 billion to waivers between January and December, last year, The Nation has learnt.

    An official of the Ministry of Finance, who asked not to be named, said over N25.8 billion was lost between January and May.

    Justifying the waivers, the official said they were incentives used to support the private sector because of some of the regulatory challenges in the domestic business environment.

    According to him, sectors that benefited from waivers are hospitality, power, aviation and agriculture. There are also, solid minerals, steel and manufacturing.

    “There are also additional programmes, such as the Export Expansion Grant Scheme, designed to promote non-oil exports. These sectors are seen as strategic areas, which can stimulate growth, support diversification of the economy, and create jobs.

    “In the past, waivers were granted to individual businesses in an approach that resulted in rent-seeking behaviours and an uneven playing field for other businesses. It was precisely the need to stop such a discretionary approach that led to reforms by the Economic Management Team.

    “A sector-wide waiver policy was introduced to provide specific incentives for some strategic, job-creating sectors. Under this regime, all businesses in a sector have access to the same incentives.

    “In addition, some waivers and exemptions make up for gaps in our economy; for example, waivers to bring in vehicles for sporting events and conferences,” the official said.

    On the implication of the waivers to remittances into the Federation Account and seven per cent revenue accruals to Customs, he said: “We have to weigh the balance between putting money into the Federation Account, collecting Customs revenues and providing jobs for the teeming unemployed youths to providing the necessary incentives for private sector operators to stimulate growth and development. The government felt it has responsibility to perform in terms of job creation and see to the local production of some of the goods we consume.”

    But some Customs officers are worried by the loss because of dwindling resources from falling oil price and naira devaluation.

    About N55.96 billion, N55.34 billion and N59.42 billion were lost to waivers in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

    A senior official, who pleaded not to be named, advocated a periodic review of concessions and waivers to determine if they are necessary.

    The official said the concessions should be reviewed in tune with present economic reality.

    “The government needs to encourage local industries to grow but the concession and waivers agreements must be sealed with the interest of majority of Nigerians at heart,” he said.

    The official observed that the waivers were being exploited by beneficiaries, noting that the government had been granting waivers and concessions to companies and individuals without consideration for its economic implications.

    He urged the government to review its tax incentive policies and stop arbitrary granting of concessions and waivers that undermine use of the tax as a means of revenue generation from the ports.

  • Customs urged to reduce cost

    A maritimelawyer,Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara, has urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to implement Article 20 of its Act to reduce the cost of doing business at the ports.

    Delivering a paper titled: “Towards A New Port Order: The Journey So Far- A Lawyer’s Perspective”, at a forum organised by the Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) , Nwagbara said there was need for Nigeria to implement the provisions of Act No. 20 in the spirit of trade facilitation among the World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries

    He urged the NCS to repeal the benchmark method of valuation as well as all arbitrary value method of arriving at the duty payable on imports to attract more business.

    Nwagbara said  the idea of using arbitrary, or fictitious valuation methods run contrary to the provisions of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to which Nigeria is a signatory.

    He said the Customs and Excise Management (Amendment) Act No. 20 of 2003, provided that Customs duty should be determined sequentially by reference to six methods, which include; transaction method, identical method, similar value method, computed method, deductive method and fall back method, wondering why the Service would not conform itself to these six as stipulated.

    “The simple explanation of the provisions of Act No. 20 of 2003 is that duty on imported goods shall be based on value stated by the seller on the seller’s invoice and such invoice is usually authenticated by the exporting countries’ Chamber of Commerce. This is the meaning of method one,” he said.

    He said where there is good reason to doubt the veracity of the value stated on the invoice of the seller, then recourse should be made to the value of identical goods from same country of import, of same quantity, within a maximum time lag of three months,  all in a bid to determine value so as to have the appropriate customs duty charged on the imports.

    This sequential method, he said, should continue where applicable until the last method is attained. He wondered why  the Nigeria Customs Service at the moment uses what may be described as “Benchmark method of valuation” of import or arbitrary method in order to arrive at the duty payable on such import.

    He explained that “ all that was done in many cases was to allot particular type of import of particular packing unit without reference to the invoice value of the seller from the country of import.  “So, every container is assessed  at the same value or the Nigerian Customs Service man may just apply his discretion as to what he feels the value of a particular import should be and then base the duty assessment on that discretion value,” he said.

    This valuation method, he argued, is arbitrary or fictitious and runs contrary to the provisions of Article VII of GATT, saying it “adds to the high cost of doing business in our ports”. He stated that there is need for Nigeria to implement the provisions of Act No. 20 in the spirit of trade facilitation among WTO member countries.

    Nwagbara decried the practice by Customs officials to employ every  instrument to frustrate genuine complaint of over-assessment by the NCS in matters of valuation, describing it as a denial of port users’ access to justice.

    He said Paragraph 13 of the 1st Schedule to the Act No. 20, 2003 , which  made the Comptroller-General of Customs a semi-final authority to adjudicate on all disagreements on  valuation before a dissatisfied party would approach the court, envisaged that disagreement over assessment to Duty was a civil disagreement. According to him, it should be settled. He, however, regretted that  the  Service frustrates the procedure. “Once an assessment is done, it is take it or leave,” he said.

    He continued: “All forms of chicanery would be employed to frustrate genuine complaints of over assessment to duty, beginning from delay in attending to the complaint, to subtle threat of declaring the affected overtime cargo, with the unpleasant consequence of being lost to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

    This, he said, encourages corruption in the system apart from restricting the affected port user’s  access to Justice. “Nigeria is a member of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), which is the technical arm of WTO on trade facilitation,” he said.

  • Customs intercepts eight ‘car smugglers’

    Customs intercepts eight ‘car smugglers’

    Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officials have arrested eight suspected smugglers in Ogun State while ferrying cars into the country.

    The suspects were handed over to the police following their arrest in the bush path of Idiroko in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun state.

    Ogun Area Customs Command spokesman Mr Usman Abubakar said the command recorded significant seizures last month, adding: “A total of 84 seizures with total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N81, 246, 069 were made in January 2015 as against 80 seizures recorded in January 2014. Our men have been carrying out their statutory duty towards reducing smuggling in the state.”

    “Apart from arresting car smugglers, the command has further stepped up its war against smugglers of rice and sundry items on land and sea as we sometimes collaborate with men of the Western Marine Command in Lagos to intercept and prevent rice smugglers from using waterways within our territory to carry out their illicit business.

    “This is to further sound a note of warning to smugglers to desist from the act as our men are more than ready to contain their activities which are inimical to the economic progress of our country,” he added.

  • Customs revenue collection hits N977b

    Customs revenue collection hits N977b

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), collected a total revenue of N977.099billion  into the federation and non-federation accounts, the Comptroller-General, Dikko Inde Abdullahi, has said.

    He said it was an improvement over the 2013 performance that saw the NCS recording  N833.397billion.

    Attributing the feat to the implementation of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), Abdullahi noted that “PAAR has equally delivered on the promise of generating revenue to government. In 2014, we received 291,146 applications, out of which a total of  273, 148 was issued.

    “A total revenue of N977.088billion was collected into the Federation account, representing an improvement over the 2013 total revenue of N833.397billion.”

    The customs boss spoke at the International Customs Day (ICD) ceremony with  Coordinated Boarder Management as its theme in Abuja.

    He described the theme as an inclusive approach for connecting stakeholders, adding that PAAR, represents a bold statement in forging an all inclusive approach to stakeholder management.

  • Customs seizes N1.3m Indian hemp

    Customs seizes N1.3m Indian hemp

    The Headquarters Monitoring Team of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Idiroko Axis, has intercepted a wine-coloured Toyota Corolla car along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    The car was laden with three sacks of substances suspected to be Indian hemp estimated at about N1.3 million, The Nation learnt.

    Following a tip-off, the patrol team, led by Yahaya Usman, an Assistant Comptroller of Customs (ACC), trailed the vehicle to a low-risk area before interception to avert any operational hiccup.

    The team’s leader expressed deep satisfaction with the Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko and his management for their support and the confidence reposed in his team.

    Usman said since inception, the team has contributed immensely to the seizure profile of the service to justify the essence of its creation.

    He added that the collaboration and synergy which his team receives from the Controller Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’, Deputy Comptroller of Customs (DCC) Turaki Usman Adamu, had been overwhelming.

    He vowed to remain committed to the anti-smuggling efforts of the NCS and promised to ensure strict compliance with the Federal Government’s fiscal policy on trade and commerce.

    Usman urged the public to give the team useful information that would assist their operations.

    “Smuggling, just like scavenging, is a global menace and the NCS will continually be at the vanguard of ensuring its drastic suppression in line with its statutory obligations and extant laws,” he said.

  • Customs raises anti-smuggling tempo in Imo

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ in Owerri, the Imo State capital, has raised its anti-smuggling tempo by deploying its officials to all its area of coverage.

    The Area Controller of the Command, David Dimka, findings revealed, has directed constant land patrols and fortified all check points to curb smuggling.

    Dimka ordered the officials to comb all the bush paths in their areas to get the smugglers of used cars, rice, vegetable oil, second hand clothing, bags, frozen chicken, shoes and used tyres, among others.

    The Intelligence officers deployed by the command, it was gathered, were instructed to also beam their searchlight on travellers who assist the smugglers.

    The officers, it was gathered, seized 363 items that were illegally imported into the country last year. The value of the items, its Public Relations Officer (PRO) Onuigbo Ifeoma said, was over N1.8 billion.

    The command, she said, also recovered some items from importers, who shortchanged the government. The value of the items, Onuigbo said, was over N71 million. The value of all seized items by the command last year, she said, was N1,877,605,093.

    Onuigbo confirmed that the command has also increased foot patrol along bush paths and raised its level of intelligence gathering for preventing smuggling.

    She said 104 arrests were made, with 134  cases pending in court in contrast to 31 arrests recorded in 2013 with 20 cases in court.

    According to her, the intensive and aggressive patrol embarked upon by the command would continue till the end of the year, in order to get the smugglers.

  • Marketing Edge publisher loses brother

    Marketing Edge publisher loses brother

    Plans are underway to give Mr. Stephen Akinyemi Ajayi, a former inspector of Customs, a befitting funeral.

    The deceased, an elder brother of Mr. John Ajayi, the publisher of Marketing Edge magazine, died on December 21 after a protracted illness.

    Ajayi, a disciplinarian and a father of four, was a community leader, who contributed to development in his home town, Ijan- Ekiti in Ekiti State and at Ibafo in Ogun State where he lived until he fell ill a few months ago.

    Born on September 13, 1952, the former Customs officer attended Inisha Grammar School, Inisha between 1973 and 1974 where he obtained his West African School Certificate. He worked briefly as a laboratory attendant at Maria Assumpta Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, before joining the Nigerian Prisons Service and later Nigeria Customs & Excise on March 1, 1977.  He rose through the ranks to become the senior inspector of the department and worked there for 31 years before retiring on April 24, 2007.

    He engaged in businesses after retirement.

    A statement by his younger brother, John, said the deceased would be missed, as he was kind and humble. He said besides being the one, who trained him to be what he is today, his late brother was a role model.  His words: “For me, the death of my elder brother, whom I also call my father, is a blow and a shock to me. In fact, losing such a humanitarian and an apostle of honesty is the worst thing that can happen to any society.”

    Ajayi said the community would miss him.

    According to the programme of events, there will be service of songs at his Ibafo home on January 5. A requiem mass will be celebrated the next day at St Paul’s Catholic Church, Ibafo.

    He will lie-in-state at Ijan-Ekiti on January 8 and funeral mass and interment will hold the following day.

    Three reverend fathers have indicated intention to honour the deceased by attending the funeral.

     

  • Student dies in Customs chase

    Student dies in Customs chase

    A final year Political Science student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) died in an accident last Thursday. The deceased, who was driving an unregistered vehicle, was said to have rammed into a truck while being chased by Customs officers on the Benin-Ore Road.  EZEKIEL EFEOBHOKHAN (400-Level Pharmacy) reports.

    His mates had gone home for the Yuletide, but he chose to remain in school. Osaretin Meshach Nohuwa, a final year part-time Political Science student at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), stayed back to make some money. But, before he could do that, he died in an accident.

    He died last Thursday while being chased by Customs officers in Isior, a community close to the university’s  Ugbowo campus.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the late Osaretin was driving an unregistered vehicle about 11pm when some Customs officers stopped him. Rather than stop, Osaretin sped off.

    An eyewitness said the Customs officers chased him. He rammed into a truck as he tried to overtake a bus.

    The eyewitness said: “The car, which the victim was driving, was on high speed. He tried to overtake a commercial bus, but he did not know a truck was in front of the bus. He rammed into the rear of the truck. The truck dragged the car to a distance before it stopped at a spot close to Eddygrace Filling Station.

    “The victim died on the spot. When we got to the scene, we discovered that the vehicle was not registered. Then, another person with the same type of unregistered car later came to the scene and told us that the victim was being chased by Customs officers.”

    Police investigation showed that the late Osaretin was contracted by an Edo-based car dealer to bring Tokunbo vehicles from Lagos to Benin.

    A police officer, who declined to give his name, confirmed the accident, saying policemen on patrol saw the accident. His words: “There was an accident involving a red unregistered Mazda coming from Oluku side and a truck. The victim, who was occupant of the car, died instantly but I cannot confirm if he was a student.”

    The policeman said after Osaretin’s body was deposited at University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) morgue, his parents came to retrieve the body for burial.

    “We advised them to wait until investigation and autopsy are completed. This is because there could be court case later and given that the victim was the one, who hit the truck from behind, we would have charged him for the damage he caused to the truck if he were to be alive,” the policeman said.

    It was all quiet at the Noma Hostel in Ekosodin, where the deceased resided. When our correspondent visited the hostel, the building was shut, as most of the occupants were said to have gone home for Christmas; those around fled to avoid what they consider police trouble.

    An occupant, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE on condition of anonymity, said the late James was yet to finish his examination before he died. “He was supposed to write his final paper last Saturday morning,” the student said, describing the deceased as lovable and hardworking.

    Some colleagues were surprised that the late Osaretin was involved in vehicle delivery business because he had a thriving barbershop and boutique.

    A part-time student, who simply identified himself as Omorege, said: “The late Osaretin had a barbershop and boutique. It was through that salon that he got his popularity among students. When he was about to travel, we told him not to go but to write his final examination, which came up on Saturday. Osaretin did not listen to us. I was shocked when I learnt about his death.”

    Osas Osarogiuwa, a student living close to the late Osaretin’s barbershop, said: “I never saw him sitting idle. If he was not going to school for lectures, then he would be in his barbershop attending to customers. He was loved by everybody.

    His brother, Osas Nohuwa, said Osaretin’s death brought sorrow to the family. “His death has brought sorrow to our family because it was sudden and hit us like a thunderbolt. He lived an unforgettable life and I pray that his soul should rest in peace till we meet to part no more.”

    His close friend, Vincent Aifuwa, said: “Osaretin was a good friend and a brother. Everyone likes to associate with him. We love him but God loves him most.”

    A family source told CAMPUSLIFE that the body was buried on Monday. When asked if the late James’ parents knew about what he was doing, the source said: “I don’t know if he told his parents but we have buried him. We had gone to pack up his property in his barbershop and the things in his hostel. I won’t want to make further comment on it because the family is bereaved and we want you to respect our right to mourn.”

    However, the Zone C command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), could not be reached for comments at the time of this report.