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Tag: Nigeria Customs Service

  • NCS intercepts 714 jerry cans of vegetable oil, drugs in Sokoto

    NCS intercepts 714 jerry cans of vegetable oil, drugs in Sokoto

    The Federal Operation Unit Zone ‘B’ of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has intercepted 714 jerry cans of smuggled vegetable oil in Sokoto, the unit spokesman,  Mr Usman Abubakar said on Tuesday.

    Abubakar told the  Reporter in Sokoto that, bags of sugar, bales of second hand clothes and drugs were also intercepted by the unit patrol team on Illela-Sokoto road this month.

    Abubakar said the Comptroller in charge of the unit, Mr Usman Dakingari, had inspected the items, adding that similar inspection of seized goods was conducted in Kano and Katsina States.

    He said the seized items were worth N9.2 million of duty paid value.

    News reports that the unit covers Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Kogi and Kwara States as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

    He explained that the seized goods were concealed in various locally produced items.

    Read Also: FG to increase salaries of  NCS officers – Minister

    Abubakar added that NCS has competent intelligent officers, investigating specialized activities across the country.

    He said the zone has deployed different tactics to tackle smuggling and reassured the public of its readiness to enforce government regulations.

    The official appealed to people residing in border communities to assist the service with useful information to prevent smuggling of goods into the country.

    The spokesman pointed out that smugglers use various structures, including residential buildings, to store smuggled items in piecemeal before uploading into trucks.

    He said smuggling was crippling the nation’s economy and industrial growth, as well as endangering the populace and creating unemployment.

    NAN

  • 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.

  • Tin Can Customs collected N287.6bn in 2017

    Tin Can Customs collected N287.6bn in 2017

    The Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it collected N287.6 billion between January and December 2017.

    The figure represents 92.71 per cent of its revenue target of N310.2 billion set for 2017.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Unit, Mr Uche Ejesieme, made this known on Tuesday in a statement in Lagos.

    Ejieseme said that the Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Yusuf Bashar, introduced several reforms in the entire administrative and operational value chain which resulted in remarkable seizures and revenue.

    “Part of the strategies was on the issue of due diligence and professionalism in documentations and examination of cargo.

    “It was therefore on the basis of the foregoing that the command intercepted a total of 2,010 Pump Action Rifles in 2017 and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ali visited the command on three occasions with some members of the management to address the media.

    “A total of five officers of the command who demonstrated uncommon diligence through detection of arms in the Command were rewarded with special promotions to the next rank as an incentive for better functionality.

    “Specifically, we handed over ten 40ft containers of both substandard, fake/regulated pharmaceuticals products to NAFDAC and NDLEA, respectively, at different times during the period under review.

  • Rice importation exit: No hiding for smugglers – Customs

    Rice importation exit: No hiding for smugglers – Customs

    When President Muhammadu Buhari gives the go-ahead for the implementation of total stoppage of rice importation this year, the smugglers will no longer have any hiding or guise for trading on the prohibited item.  

    His administration had last year stopped the importation of rice through land borders. Besides, in his 2018 New Year broadcast, he dropped the hint that there will be the total stoppage of rice import this year.

    But speaking with The Nation on phone on Sunday, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, noted that the fight against rice smuggling will be easier when the policy implementation begins.

    He said that unlike now that the criminals hide under the guise of the seaport to smuggle rice into Nigeria, upon the enforcement of the policy, any rice that is not Nigerian, will be seized as a smuggled item. 

    He said that “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 the 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 noted that with the support of the Federal Government, the organization looks forward to possessing more vehicles and equipment in 2018.

    According to him, the NCS is prepared and will be better equipped to combat smugglers. 

    “He said that 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, however, noted that the challenge he envisages in the implementation of the policy is that of the unpatriotic Nigerians who still harbour smugglers.

    He appealed to the citizenry to appreciate smuggling as a criminal act, and support the service to fight them by exposing their act. 

    The PRO said that “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.”

  • ‘Customs hopes to break 2017 record in 2018’

    ‘Customs hopes to break 2017 record in 2018’

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has expressed the hope to exceed 2017 record of revenue collection performance in 2018, appealing for support from all Nigerians.

    The Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Attah, told newsmen on Friday in Abuja that the NCS received Federal Government support in 2017 “and this would translate to more patrol vehicles and equipment to perform even better in 2018.

    “We are prepared to do more of what we did last year and we look forward to breaking the record of 2017 in 2018 by God’s grace.”

    Attah, who expressed displeasure over stories in some national dailies that implied that the service was having lingering friction with National Assembly, said it was “disturbing .”

    According to him, some national dailies choose to put a headline like “Customs Blames National Assembly for 2017 Performance.

    “For avoidance of doubt, we want to say that the relationship between NCS and
    the National Assembly is cordial: there is no problem and we have no reason to blame the respected body for what is generally accepted as a very good performance in 2017.

    “How do we (Customs) blame an individual or an organisation when many are commending the service for a job well done in terms of revenue collection and suppression of smuggling?.

    “We are not reporting something negative, we are reporting something positive, does it make sense to blame somebody for performing very well?.”

    Attah also said that the service generated a total sum of N1.037 trillion at the end of 2017.

    According to him, the reinvigorated anti-smuggling operations in 2017 raked in a total of 4,492 assorted seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N12.78 billion.

    He added that these included the 2,671 pump action riffles, dangerous drugs, vehicles and rice, among others, noting that 207 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures.

  • Apapa Customs generates N36.2bn

    Apapa Customs generates N36.2bn

    The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service generated N36.22 billion in November, authorities of the command have said.

    The command’s spokesperson, Mrs Nkiru Nwalla, said in Lagos that the collection was an increase of about N6.6 billion from N31.8 billion recorded in the preceding month.

    Nwalla said by the collection, the command surpassed its monthly target of N29.5 billion.

    She attributed the increase in the revenue to the leadership of Comptroller Musa Jibrin, the Area Coomander, who insisted that officers should withdraw from activities that would impede “Ease of Doing Business’’ at the port.

    Nwalla said Jibrin had encouraged the implementation of all strategies and blueprints devised to block all revenue leakages while enhancing trade facilitation and security to sustain the pace.

    Read also: Customs generate N262.3bn in 11 months at Tin Can Port – Official

    “Continuous stakeholder engagement and enlightenment have paved way for willful compliance seen in improved honest declaration and transparency in the 24-hour cargo clearance procedures.

    “The command is delighted to re-inform the public that officers are scheduled on 24/7 bases and are ready for all importers and exporters who desire to have their consignments cleared,” she said.

    Nwalla said that the command had intercepted 24 containers of various consignments due to false declaration, adding that the goods intercepted included pharmaceutical products, frozen fish, medicament.

    She said seven containers of pharmaceutical products had been handed over to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    The spokesperson also said that some officers, who were found wanting in anti-smuggling cases had been dismissed to serve as deterrent to others.

    NAN

  • Customs impound contraband valued N1.59bn

    Customs impound contraband valued N1.59bn

    The Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS ) intercepted various contraband with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.59 billion between the 1st to 30th of November.

    The Customs Area Controller ( CAC ) of the unit, Comptroller Garba Mohammed, said this when he conducted newsmen round Customs’ warehouses in Lagos on Wednesday.

    According to Mohammed, a total of 185 items were intercepted within the period under review.

    “The command intercepted 64 units of various types of vehicles under detention; 13,333 bags of 50kg parboiled rice; 15 parcels of Indian hemp; 205 bales of second-hand clothing and 1,390 cartons of frozen poultry products.

    “We intercepted 1,101 pieces of used tyres; 835 jerry cans of vegetable oil; 17 no. of 20ft containers suspected to be carrying wood under detention and 385 cartons of Tiffany cream biscuits.

    “Also intercepted were: 2,300 cartons of Tiffany chocolate cream fudge and toffee sweet as well as 137 cartons of block engine cylinder,’’ he said.

    The controller said five suspects were apprehended along with the seizures, while one of the suspects had been released on administrative bail.

    Mohammed said some 50kg bags of rice were intercepted and discovered to have been locally-produced.

    He said the bags of rice were intercepted while being re-bagged to deceive Nigerians that the commodity was imported.

    According to him, three bullet-proof jeeps were among the vehicles seized through Customs Intelligence.

    Read also: Customs destroys 700 cartons of seized poultry products – Official

    Report said one of the suspects, Mr Adams Oghenegare, a driver with GPC Truck Transport Company, said he was apprehended by Customs at Otta, along Agbara area of Lagos.

    Oghenegare said he loaded some 50kg bags of rice and used some cartons of Maggi to cover the consignment in order to deceive security agents.

    The controller said that some owners of the 57 vehicles intercepted in Omole Estate, Lagos by officers of the unit had not come forward for identification in order to pay the duty and to release their vehicles.

    Mohammed said smuggled vehicles and rice through the land borders would attract outright seizure following the Federal Government’s directives.

    He said importation of groundnut oil was prohibited through land or sea.

    Mohammed commended the Comptroller-General of customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ali and the entire management team for providing the necessary logistics that brought about this feat.

    He also commended the media for their continued support and for using their medium in sensitising the public on the effects of smuggling on the nation’s economy.

    NAN

  • Nigeria Customs seizes contraband worth N93m

    Nigeria Customs seizes contraband worth N93m

    The Compliance Team of the Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS ) said it has seized contraband with Duty Paid Value ( DPV ) of N93.7 million in the course of its operations.

    The Coordinator of the Compliance Team, Ahmed Azarema, made this known while displaying the seized contraband to news men in Owerri on Tuesday at the Imo/Abia Command of the service.

    Azarema said the compliance team, attached to the office of the Comptroller-General of Customs, confiscated 1,028bags of 20 kg foreign rice with a DPV of N8.22 million concealed with motor spare parts.

    He said 1,258 bags of 50kg of foreign rice with a DPV of N74.8 million and 111 bales of second hand clothing with a DPV of N10.65 million was also seized by the team.

    Read also: Customs destroys smuggled goods

    He said all the items were seized along Aba/Umuahia/Port Harcourt axis adding that two suspects were arrested in connection with the seized goods.

    Azarema observed that because of the Yuletide season, smugglers are more desperate and always want to skim their way through but would always fail because of the dedication and ingenuity of the customs personnel.

    He, therefore, charged Nigerians against ferrying contraband in and across the country, but to engage in legitimate businesses to avoid their goods being confiscated.

    According to the compliance team coordinator, locally produced rice is more nutritious, better and cheaper than foreign rice which are preserved with chemicals.

    He said that patronising locally made goods would help boost the country’s foreign exchange and provide jobs to the teeming unemployed youths in the country.

    Azarema also urged Nigerians to desist from buying foreign rice to encourage the local producers.

    NAN

  • FG slashes import, export documentation requirements

    FG slashes import, export documentation requirements

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun says the Federal Government has reduced documentation requirements for import and export, to facilitate trade.

    Adeosun made this known on Thursday in Lagos at a Sensitisation Workshop with the theme: “Understanding Nigeria’s Revised Import and Export Guidelines, Procedures and Documentation Requirements for Ease of Doing Business’’.

    According to the minister, the measures include the reduction of documentation requirements from 10 to seven, for exports and from 14 to eight, for imports.

    Adeosun, who was represented by the Director, Home Finance, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Olubunmi Siyanbola, said that additional responsibilities had been given to the Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS ), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the shipping lines/other carriers.

    Reports say that government’s attention is principally focused on measures to ensure reduction in time spent on processing of export and also to ensure 24-hour clearance of cargo imported into the country.

    The minister announced that the NCS shall coordinate the mandatory joint examination and Sign-Off Form, within the official working hours, including Saturdays.

    “NCS shall make available the shipping manifests to other examination agencies as soon as they are received, to enable enough time for Risk Assessment.

    “Nigeria Integrated Customs Information Systems (NICIS) should be strengthened to accommodate more agencies.

    “Shipping lines shall transmit to the NCS and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the cargo manifest, before leaving the last Ports of Call to Nigeria.

    “Shipping lines shall ensure that Nigeria-bound containerised cargo are palletised,’’ Adeosun said.

    The minister said that a new section had been introduced, which stated that the NPA shall receive cargo manifests from shipping lines before the ship leaves the last Port of Call and circulate to other regulatory agencies for Risk Assessment and Profiling.

    Adeosun said that NPA shall be responsible for traffic management of vessels and shall ensure pilotage of vessels.
    The minister commended the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari toward ensuring the Ease of Doing business, which had started yielding dividends in some areas.

    According to her, in the recent World Bank report, Nigeria had moved up 24 points from 169th position on the 2017 ranking and also 170th position on the 2016 ranking to 145th position in the World Bank’s 2018 report.

    “That is, Nigeria is now in 145th position out of 190 countries in the Ease of Doing Business Index for 2018,’’ she said.
    Adeosun said that government was working relentlessly to quickly put in order the scanning system, so as to eliminate manual examination of goods and other associated delays.

    She said that the Export and Import Guidelines would be fully implemented with effect from January 1, 2018.

    “The Guidelines may not be perfect to address all concerns but government will monitor its implementation closely, to address emerging and unforeseen situations,’’ the minister said.

    In a welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr Mamoud Isa-Dutse, urged business entities involved in both import and export trading to abide by the provisions of the guidelines.

    The permanent secretary was represented by the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Salisu Nainna.

    “Let our efforts in striving to create a lucrative business environment in Nigeria be mutually-reinforcing, to enable us as a country make significant progress.

    “We are duty-bound to foster formal trade not only to block loopholes for leakages of government revenue but also to promote the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, so as to enhance the competitiveness of the economy for our business to continue to prosper.

    “The present government is taking steps toward ensuring 24-hour clearance of cargo using cutting-edge technology.

    “In this direction, efforts are ongoing to revive and upgrade the scanning system as a short-term measure, pending the acquisition of modern High Definition Scanners,’’ Isa-Dutse said.

    He said that the Ease of Doing Business had improved Nigeria’s performance in terms of trading across borders, with the introduction of Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

    The permanent secretary said that the guidelines had taken into account the directives of the Vice President and there was that inherent potency to facilitate trade without compromising the interest of the national economy.

    Isa-Dutse said that the objective of the workshop could be achieved if stakeholders were properly informed about procedures, rules and regulations, as well as modalities for their implementation and enforcement.

    Dr Jumoke Oduwole, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade & Investment, urged the private sector to cooperate with the Federal Government in the reform initiatives.

    “We ask that stakeholders should refrain from circumventing policies, as we strive to implement initiatives and reforms needed to scale up the efficiency and transparency of the public sector, ’’ Oduwole said.

    “We invite you all to give us your candid feedback on how our reforms are working in practice, as we collectively strive to make Nigeria an easier place in which to do business,’’ she said.

    Oduwole was represented by Mr Jude Oboh, Reform Leader at the Enabling Business Environment secretariat.

    Mr Tony Ayalogu, a Deputy Controller of Customs, stressed the importance of palletisation of cargo, saying that it protected goods from any form of damage.

    Ayalogu said that a standard palletised cargo could carry a maximum cargo of 100 kg.

    He urged Nigerians to ensure compliance with policy on palletisation of containerised cargo coming into the country, to make the Customs work seamlessly and to reduce the time of doing business.

    NAN

  • VAT records 1.73% increase in third quarter – NBS

    VAT records 1.73% increase in third quarter – NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS ) said revenue generated from Value Added Tax ( VAT ), increased by 1.73 per cent in the third quarter of 2017.

    The NBS announced the figure in a sectoral distribution of value added tax report for third quarter, 2017 posted on the bureau’s website posted in Abuja.

    The further disclosed that the figured increased from N246.30 billion in the second quarter to N250.56 billion in third quarter.

    VAT is a tax on the amount by which the value of an article has been increased at each stage of its production or distribution.

    It also  stated that the figure generated in the quarter was higher than N196.70 billion recorded during the same period in 2016, representing 1.73 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter and 27.39 per cent increase Year-on-Year.

    The bureau noted that the manufacturing sector generated the highest amount of VAT with N28.98 billion,closely followed by Professional Services and Oil Producing,N22.73 billion and N12.09 billion.

    It said that the mining sector generated the least with N33.70 million,closely followed by Local Government Councils and Pharmaceutical, Soaps and Toiletries, N193.78 million.

    NBS said of the total amounted generated in the quarter, N125.13 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT locally while N72.10 billion was generated as Non-Import VAT for foreign.

    It, however, stated that the balance of N53.33 billion was generated as Nigeria Customs Service Import VAT.

    NAN