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Tag: Mr. Joseph Attah

  • Struggle to disarm Customs officer killed victim – PRO

    The Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) on Sunday said that preliminary investigation has shown that it was during the struggle to disarm the officer that his riffle discharged and hit the friend of the Customs (Godwin) who lost his life. 

    The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, who disclosed this in a statement  said the incident emanated from its anti-smuggling operation at Shagamu interchange along Ijebu Ode.

    According to the statement, the deceased was a friend of one of the Customs officer and not a passenger as insinuated in a circulated video clip.

    The statement noted that the NCS sympathizes with the victim and the wounded Customs officer was in an intensive care unit.

    He said that: “Preliminary finding indicate that it was during the skirmishes and struggle to disarm the Officer that the riffle discharged and hit the friend of the Customs (Godwin) who lost his life. The Service is already in touch with the bereaved family.”

    Attah also said that “Sadly, it should be noted that while attention shifted to the dead and the wounded, the passengers who filmed with inciting commentaries boarded their vehicle and left, leaving the wrong impression that it was one of them that was killed.”

    The PRO explained that its attention was drawn to a disturbing video going viral with conflicting narratives.

    Attah said that “While it is painful and totally unnecessary to loose life in anti-smuggling operations, today at Shagamu interchange along Ijebu Ode, attempt to obstruct lawful performance of duty by passengers of a commercial bus (a white Toyota Hiace) suspected to be carrying bales of used clothing led to the death of a young man (Godwin) and serious injury of a Customs Officer, ASC1, Destiny Onebamho.

    “Contrary to some narratives, the young man was not a passenger of the bus but a good citizen who always come to fetch water for Customs Patrol men anytime they return to the base.

    “While the wounded Officer is under intensive care at the hospital, the patrol team has been recalled to the office for further investigation.”

  • Customs strengthens boarder security over codeine ban

    …takes delivery of 50 operation vehicles

     

    Owing to the ban on the manufacturing of codeine, other hard drugs and the tendency of smuggling prohibited substances into the country through boarders, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has further strengthened its border checks and security for codeine.

    Its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Joseph Attah revealed this to The Nation in his Abuja office Thursday.

    He added that in its bid to enforce the illicit drug ban and border patrol, the service has just taken delivery of 50 operation vehicles that were being painted for operation.

    The Customs spokesman said that “We know that each time there is a policy of government that restricts or prohibits the importation of any item, the tendency is for unpatriotic elements to circumvent it by engaging in its smuggling.

    Read Also:Customs arrest four suspected smugglers, intercept N53m contraband

    “Like any other prohibited item, we will be on the watch out for it (codeine). We will seize them. You are aware that we have been seizing illicit drugs like tramadol and some drugs without NAFDAC approval and all that.

    “We will continue to do what we do and ensure that any of such prohibited drugs, not only codeine, any other prohibited items, is not allowed to get into the country.”

    Attah said for any prohibited item not to slip into Nigeria now that local manufacturers have stopped production of codeine, the NCS would receive more patrol vehicles this year.

    According to him, “already we have taken delivery of 50 Hilux patrol vehicles and we are expecting more. The idea is to beef up our logistic in such a way that we are very mobile and very swift in arriving the scene of a crime. So, with the acquisition of more vehicles and the deployment of intelligence operatives, we expect that we will be able to step up our boarder policing this year.”

  • Customs deactivate 160 TINs over fraudulent bidding

    Customs deactivate 160 TINs over fraudulent bidding

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Tuesday told The Nation that last week, at the end of its 5th round of the ongoing e-auction bidding, it deactivated 160 Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) of fraudulent bidders.

    Speaking with our Abuja correspondent on phone, the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, noted that “the 5th round was smooth because of the measures that we put into effect, They have started yielding results.

    “We have deactivated over 160 TINs due to bogus and unrealistic bidding. Those measures of reprogramming the system we had seen a better bidding process at the end of the 5th bidding.”
    He said that 353 winners have emerged from the exercise.

    According to him, at the end of the 5th round, the total amount generated from the e-auction was in excess of N52million. He added that the 6th round commenced this week Monday.

    The spokesman said that “The 5th round produced 99 winners. So, when you add it up at the end of that 5th round we had 353 winners. And we have generated over N52million. And you know of course, the 6th round now has started on Monday.”

    He said that 19 banks are now participating in the ongoing auction and that the previous challenges that were associated with the process at the beginning have now given way owing to the different measures that the NCS took to address them.

    It will be recalled that the Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali (rtd) had this year introduced the e-auction bidding process to contain the corruption and lack of transparency that characterized the previous analogue bidding system.

    The Controller-General said:“In the past, stakeholders had accused the service of Nepotism, short changing the government of revenue through arbitrary auction fees to be paid by allottees and sundry corruption allegation against the service”.

    Two weeks after the launch of the process, for Jaiz Bank Plc, all the other Deposit Money Banks (DMB) refused to participate in the exercise giving room to the conjecture that the e-auction was skewed to favour Muslims and northerners.

    On July 18, Ali met with 17 Chief Executive Officers of banks in his office at Abuja, accusing them of sabotaging the e-auction process.

    The bankers, however, blamed their non-participation on technical hitches and promised to hook on to the system as soon as they overcame their hurdles.

  • 43 win Customs e-auction cars

    43 win Customs e-auction cars

    Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on Monday disclosed that 43 out of the 68 people who bid for cars through its e-auction platform, have emerged winners.

    The Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, who made this known in a statement added that “282 people registered, 268 were enabled with 245 able to generate e-wallet assessment. Out of 177 that recharged their e-wallets, 68 bided and 43 emerged as winners.”

    On the challenges faced by some individuals in recharging their e-wallet, the statement explained that “all the 23 Customs duty collecting banks were carried along, properly trained in the process, however, upon launch of the platform,” only Jaiz Bank was discovered to be ready and active on the platform.

    The statement also disclosed that upon the various complaints received by customs, the Service immediately wrote a letter to all the designated banks requesting them to “integrate with the e-auction application for the recharging of e-wallet” on the 3rd July 2017. The service has also contacted the Central bank of Nigeria to confirm the readiness of commercial banks to perform their roles in ensuring a hitch-free exercise.

    While looking forward to seeing more banks hook to the platform and ease the process for bidders, the Nigerian customs assured the general public of the service determination to ensure that the e- auction is transparent and accountable.

    According to the statement, The Service resolves it is motivated by the core benefits of generating more revenue for the Federal Government while providing equal opportunities to all Nigerians.

    The second round of bidding is expected to commence on the 10th of July 2017 and will stop at 12noon on Wednesday 12th July 2017.

  • Customs: Dealers rush for vehicle terminal N50m bond license 

    Customs: Dealers rush for vehicle terminal N50m bond license 

    The Public Relations, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr. Joseph Attah, on Wednesday revealed that dealers have started rushing to indicate interest to operate the N50 million bonded vehicle terminals.

    Speaking with journalists in Abuja, he said “Yes. A lot have indicated interest and the process is on-going.”

    According to him, the Service was ready to begin issuance of the licence and that there are already positive responses from the public.  

    He said: “A lot of people have indicated interest and the process is on-going. NCS is ready for the issuance of licences to people who are interested, what it takes is for interested persons to acquire a big land, fence it and have Customs section within, a workstation with connectivity and computer system that can easily connect to the Customs server.

    “Such person will also be required to enter into a bank bond of N50 million. He will now apply through the Customs Area Comptroller of the command he wants to site the terminal to the Comptroller General.” 

    Asked to comment on the response of Customs officers to the recent upgrade of HND to level 08, he said that the announcement has restored the morale and dignity of the affected officers.

    According to him,  “The reaction has been positive; it has been morale lifting across the commands. By that singular decision, officers and men are saying that the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) has written his name in gold because he has restored dignity, integrity and pride of the affected officers.

    “In my own view, reducing the rank of an HND holder because he does h=not have a B.Sc was not a perfect decision. The CGC in keeping with his reform agenda has done what needed to have been done many years back. He has restored laughter and happiness and by the grace of God, we are expecting higher productivity.”

    Meanwhile a former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri has commended the reforms at the Service.

    He pointed out that “What we are witnessing now is an attempt to ensure that we conform to the provisions of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the rules of our country and that Customs serves the best interest of Nigerians.”

    He advised that importation of rice should not be banned out rightly but done in phases according to local production capacity. 

    He said: “Believe me, policies relating to agriculture in this country have been result-oriented. I must say that it is not just starting from this administration, it started from previous ones. 

    “Today, we are seeing revolutions in Anambra, Nasarawa, Kebbi with rice everywhere. So what we need to do is not an outright ban, but we should reduce the ban according to the level of production. If we are able to produce 10,000 tonnes and we are importing 20,000, let us cut off the 10,000 and bring in the other 10,000 tonnes so that we do not go hungry,” Omeri explained.

    He also urged consumers to patronise local rice saying, “So let us look at the nutritional value and begin to patronise made in Nigeria rice. Let us do phased withdrawal of import of rice in this country so that our people can grow more.”

  • Customs distributes 136, 476 bags of rice to IDPs camps

    Customs distributes 136, 476 bags of rice to IDPs camps

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has distributed 136, 476 bags of rice in the last one year to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the Northeast and Benin.

    Mr Joseph Attah, Public Relations Officer of the Service, announced this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The distribution of relief materials by the NCS to the IDPs camps across the country was in compliance with presidential directive to distribute seized perishable items to IDPs in the North-East.

    He said that the reinstatement of the ban on rice importation through the land borders few months after lifting it in 2016 was to stem the tide of rice smuggling.

    Attah said that between Jan. 1, and March 31, the service had made a seizure of 136,506 (50kg) bags of rice from different land borders.

    “I can assure you that our anti-smuggling strategy is yielding positive dividend in the last three months (January to March), we seized a total of 136, 506 50kg bags of rice.

    “The last one year (March 2016 to March 2017), we made a seizure of 205, 825 bags with a duty paid value of over N1 billion, that is just rice alone.

    “To build another layer of policing, we have what we call the compliance team, which made a total of 921 seizures with a Duty Paid Value of over N1 billion, most of these seizures are rice and then vehicles,’’ he said.

    Attah said that customs in its fight against rice smugglers had record successes, adding that the service had paid great prices, especially in the area of loss of the lives of its officers.

    He said that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.), had adopted holistic approach in fighting smuggling in the country.

    Attah said that beyond seizing and arresting smugglers, the service had been in the fore front of educating the public about the unwholesome nature of these rice because of the method used in smuggling them.

    “The idea is to protect Nigerians and shift taste to locally produced rice.

    “We believe that when there is no patronage, there will be no smuggling.

    “Therefore, it is disturbing to see people who should rather invest their energy in a profitable venture of providing intelligence to the service to protect their businesses, national economy and security engaging in smuggling,’’ he explained.

    He said that the service was investigating the information that some rich individuals allegedly buy motorcycles and handsets for unemployed youths to monitor the movement of Customs patrol men and gives information that aide smuggling of rice.

    “There were cases when villagers were mobilised to attack and block officers when they were carrying seized rice to the station.

    “They use such confusion as smoke screen to inform smugglers to follow another route, just to beat the check and achieve their criminal venture,” he added.

    Attah, therefore, called on Nigerians to desist from smuggling, adding that any country where smuggling activities was high, it kills the economy.

  • Customs urges Nigerians to see smuggling as a crime

    Customs urges Nigerians to see smuggling as a crime

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has urged Nigerians to see smuggling as a crime and support it to succeed in the war against smugglers.

    Mr Joseph Attah, Public Relations Officer of the Service, made the sppeal while addresding the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

    He said that the service anti-smuggling strategy was yielding positive dividend, adding that in the past three months, the service had seized 136,506 bags of rice.

    “All Nigerians should see smuggling as a crime so that they will support the service to succeed in our ongoing war against smugglers.

    “Seeing smuggling as a crime means that you will be willing to give creditable information that will help us succeed.

    “As villagers that live around border line, they should be willing to support customs officers whenever they make seizures and they are encountering some difficulties, rather than supporting the smugglers against customs

    ” In Nigeria when a thief is arrested or an armed robber is arrested, you hardly get to see people going to beg for them.

    “But today when a smuggler is arrested you see Nigerians,  including some respected ones in our society, coming to beg for such persons to be released because they don’t see smuggling as a crime; they see it as a trade,’’ Attah said.

    He said that some Nigerians often times accused the NCS of not doing enough in its service delivery.

    He said it was wrong for people to think that  a smuggler could only be successful when supported in active connivance by customs officers.

    According to him, smugglers now take advantage of the porous borders, adding that oftentimes  they are supported by villagers at the border line and unpatronic well to do individuals in carryiny out their smuggling activities.

    ” NCS cannot 100 per cent vouch for its officers like any other human organisation; it is totally wrong to suggest that every criminal activity must be with the connivance of
    an operative,” he added.

    Attah said that the service would remain focused on its statutory function of enforcing government polices rather than being distracted by the blame game

    ” In our continuous efforts to suppress smuggling, information, suggestions that can help the service to perform better are welcome from well meaning individuals or organisation.”

  • Customs set N50m cap for bonded vehicle terminals

    Customs set N50m cap for bonded vehicle terminals

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has said that it is set to commence the operation of  Bonded Vehicle Terminals in the country, stressing that the players have to secure a  bank bond of  N50 million for eligibility and operation of a terminal.

    Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the Acting Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah said that the essence of the fund is to ensure that government revenue is secured.

    He said that any interested person has to apply through the Customs Area Command. Attah noted that: “So essentially that is, and then there is a bond, we call it bonded vehicle terminal, you will have to approach a bank and enter into a bond to the tune of  N50 million.”  He (terminal owner) has to secure a bank bond of N50million. You know I told you we move these vehicles without duty. So, these is just to make sure that government revenue is secured, so you won’t even play pranks.”

    He stressed that the service is now ready to start the operation as he said that “As I have said, today custom is ready for this. And any interested person needs to start by writing application through the area controller. That is, through the area controller of the command where he wants to locate or site his bonded terminal.”

    The spokesman recalled that when the policy banning the importation of cars through the land borders came into effect on the 1st January 2017, Nigerians complained that most of the dealers would lose their jobs.

    Attah however submitted that “Little did they know that the Nigerian Customs Service studied situations that attracted some of our business men and women to our neighbouring ports and also why car dealers in Nigeria patronize car parks in other neighbouring countries are designed to rather strengthen the businesses of these car dealers.  We had meetings then around ending January and the service promised to work out the modality to start issuing motor dealers or indeed any interested person licenses for the operation of bonded vehicle terminals in Nigeria.”

    According to him, prior to the introduction of the bonded vehicle terminal, the there were container terminals.

    He however explained that now whoever wants to operate a bonded vehicle terminal need to have an expanse of land that is wide enough to accommodate many vehicles in a fenced environment.

    He said that owning a terminal means that the operator can import vehicles from any part of the world and stating from the beginning as vehicles destined to ‘AB&C bonded terminal in Abuja’, Kano or wherever it maybe, right from the beginning it is manifested like that.

    Continuing he said that “On arrival at the sea port, without the pressure of him going to look for money or go and take loan to pay customs duty,  customs officers will escort this vehicles to his bonded vehicle terminals, without payment of duty. And those vehicle will stay there for at least 28-30days without even payment of duty. Custom will also establish a small custom  outpost within each of these terminals.

    “Within these first 28-30 days, if a customer comes there to buy a vehicle, he simply buys the vehicle,  walks into the customs outpost within that terminal, pays his duty and drive her  vehicle  confidently home,  without the fear of running into any customs  checkpoint or being asked to present the pass and all that.

    “Eventually, it is our hope that when this thing is established, when this thing becomes  the normal practice in Nigeria, gone will be the days when somebody will be  driving a  vehicle and be fearing to meet a customs checkpoint.

    “Apart from this there are other multiplier effects, positively.  Wherever there these  bonded vehicle terminals commercial banks will begin to open branches there, because  there is going to be volumes of commercial transactions, that is job opportunity.

    “Where ever there is this bonded vehicle terminal spare part dealers will open their shops around that place, because they know when you buy these vehicles there might  be one two things to change, that is job opportunity.

    “In these vehicle terminals, food vendors will open restaurants and all that there. Even  young people, some boys and girls who are strong enough to come and Wash these cars every day to get some money from the operators of these terminals.”