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  • Tin Can Customs rakes in N16.4b in single-day revenue boom

    Tin Can Customs rakes in N16.4b in single-day revenue boom

    The Tincan Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a record-breaking single-day revenue collection of N16.4 billion, a milestone achieved through its new digital clearing platform, B’Odogwu.

    The unprecedented sum of N16,411,402,227.27 was recorded on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, and is being hailed by officials as a direct result of the efficiency of the Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), known as B’Odogwu.

    In a statement released yesterday, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Frank Onyeka, described the achievement as a “clear win for technological efficiency and collaboration.” He attributed the success to the B’Odogwu system’s ability to streamline port operations by eliminating delays and administrative bottlenecks.

    “The B’Odogwu system has drastically improved the ability of licensed Customs agents and stakeholders to access payment platforms and complete cargo clearance processes in real-time, without unnecessary delays or administrative bottlenecks,” Onyeka was quoted as saying by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Customs Oscar Ivara.

    The Comptroller elaborated that the system’s integration of all key port and Customs operations onto a single digital interface has been a game-changer. This, he noted, has enabled faster processing, accurate valuation, and enhanced monitoring of cargo activities, creating a more predictable and efficient operating environment for all port users.

    Read Also: Customs, NSC collaborate to resolve B’Odogwu hitches

    Onyeka emphasised that the record figure signifies more than just financial gain, reflecting a fundamental modernisation of port processes and the success of collaborative efforts with stakeholders.

    He said, “This record-breaking revenue figure is not just about numbers, it reflects the game-changing role of the B’Odogwu system in modernising port operations and further highlights the benefits of the Command’s continued collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, which includes terminal operators, shipping companies, licensed Customs agents, and regulatory agencies.”

    He reiterated the command’s ongoing commitment to its core mandates, stating, “The Command remains dedicated to enhancing trade facilitation, securing revenue for national development, and supporting all port users in achieving timely and cost-effective cargo clearance.”

    This landmark revenue collection is expected to bolster confidence in the government’s ongoing efforts to digitise and simplify port operations, a critical component for driving national economic growth.

  • Fed Govt okays Apapa, Tin Can ports upgrade

    Fed Govt okays Apapa, Tin Can ports upgrade

    The federal government has approved the reconstruction of the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports in Lagos in a major move to enhance efficiency and restore the global competitiveness of Nigeria’s seaports.

    Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola, who disclosed this during a stakeholder engagement in Lagos on Thursday, said the port rehabilitation is part of the Western Ports modernisation drive, with similar procurement processes underway for the Eastern ports.

    He said, “These upgrades are complemented by the deployment of digital solutions, including the Port Community System, the E-Call-Up System, and a unified One-Stop-Shop for port clearance. These interventions are designed to reduce delays, boost investor confidence, and reposition Nigeria as a regional maritime hub.”

    He added that efforts are ongoing to revive a national shipping line under a public-private partnership model.

    “Additionally, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has commenced preparatory activities for the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF). The process is being carefully structured to ensure transparency and regulatory compliance,” he said.

    Oyetola emphasised that the ministry has achieved consistent growth across its agencies, driven by digitisation and operational efficiency. He also celebrated Nigeria’s three-year record of zero piracy incidents, citing it as a testament to ongoing security reforms.

    “Investment opportunities are expanding in bonded terminals, dry ports, inland logistics corridors, and warehousing infrastructure. Our overarching objective is to make Nigeria the maritime and logistics gateway for West and Central Africa,” he added.

    On regional integration, the Minister disclosed Nigeria’s leadership in operationalising the Regional Maritime Development Bank under the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), headquartered in Abuja.

    Stakeholders at the event commended the ministry’s direction and recent reforms.

    Pioneer President of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Engr. Greg Ogbeifun noted, “The federal government has done its part by addressing several challenges in the sector. The private sector should take advantage of the opportunities created by the government for job creation, economic development, training and employment of cadets.”

    Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC), Bolaji Sunmola, described the newly introduced National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy as a “transformative blueprint,” but stressed the need for implementation and local content enforcement.

    He said, “Nigeria loses over nine billion dollars annually due to under-enforcement of the Cabotage Act. This is an economic and patriotic emergency. Our ports must now prioritise indigenous participation in shipping, terminal operations, and maritime services.”

    Read Also: Reps urge Fed Govt to improve flood control mechanism

    President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS), Aminu Umar, praised the government’s progress in tackling piracy and initiating the CVFF disbursement process, but called for continued collaboration between industry players and regulators.

    Also speaking, President of WISTA Nigeria, Dr. Odunayo Ani, commended the ministry for including Ms. Iroghama Ogbeifun on NIMASA’s governing board and hailed the government’s new policy thrust.

    “This stakeholder engagement marks a pivotal moment in our collective journey toward harnessing the full potential of Nigeria’s marine and blue economy. We believe that strategic collaboration is not only essential but indispensable to the successful implementation of this ambitious national blueprint,” Ani stated.

    The engagement brought together terminal operators, ship owners, freight forwarders, barge operators, maritime unions, and security agencies, including the Nigerian Navy, Customs, and Immigration.

  • Truckers decry port corridor extortion, defend e-call up

    Truckers decry port corridor extortion, defend e-call up

    A major protest rocked Lagos ports on Wednesday, as maritime truck drivers and owners marched from the Lilypond Truck Park in Ijora to the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports.

    They denounced the alleged extortion rackets and operational inefficiencies that have plagued port access roads.

    The protesters, waving placards and chanting slogans, warned against scrapping the electronic call-up system (also known as ETO) introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), even as they raised alarm over multiple illegal checkpoints and the black-market resale of digital call-up slots at exorbitant prices.

    Findings by The Nation revealed that truckers are being forced to pay between N250,000 and N400,000 for call-up tickets, while also facing extortion fees of N5,000 to N20,000 per checkpoint en route to the ports.

    “The extortion and racketeering have become unbearable,” the Secretary General of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Mohamed Sani Bala, stated.

    “We want to appeal to the management of the NPA to please reduce the number of extortion checkpoints along the port corridors, as truckers are losing a lot of proceeds to the activities of the people operating most of these checkpoints.”

    Protesters carried placards with messages such as “ETO call-up is working,” “No to policy summersault, Let ETO be,” “Thank you NPA for being ETO call-up! It has reduced traffic, eliminate extortion checkpoints,” and “MTDA supports ETO call-up against going back to Egypt”, a biblical allusion to their rejection of returning to the disorganised past.

    Truckers urged the government to introduce Electronic Tags (ETAG) and a truck scheduling system to prevent manipulation of the call-up process and ensure that only authorised trucks access the port.

    Chairman of the Lagos State Trucks and Cargo Operators Committee (LASTCOC), Lukman Shittu, declared that the ongoing attacks against the electronic system are being orchestrated by individuals who benefited from the old disorderly system.

    “People calling for a return to the old system are not representing real stakeholders. Those were the ones benefiting from the disorder,” he said.

    Read Also: Truckers partner NTVOA for smooth port operations, reduce costs

    Zangalo, a senior member of the trucking community with over 20 years of experience, echoed similar sentiments.

    “If terminals like APMT or ENL are not operating efficiently, trucks can’t move. And TTP won’t release more trucks, leading to a backlog,” he explained, urging better terminal coordination.

    Also speaking, Public Relations Officer of the Maritime Truck Drivers Association (MTDA), Afeez Alabi, warned that any reversal to the old manual access regime would cripple operations.

    “The digital system has brought transparency and order to truck movement in and out of the ports, exposing irregularities and significantly reducing traffic congestion,” Alabi said.

    However, he noted that while the ETO system was initially introduced at a cost of N10,250, extortionists now resell call-up slots for over N120,000, highlighting the need to clamp down on corruption within the process.

    The truckers maintained that the e-call-up system has drastically reduced traffic gridlock on Apapa port corridors and warned that its abandonment would roll back years of progress in port decongestion.

  • Importers abandon 150 containers, 100 vehicles at Tin Can

    Over 150 containers and 100 vehicles worth over N1 billion have been abandoned at Tin-Can Island Port and other bonded terminals in Lagos because  of  bad roads.

    Source said the importers were also finding it difficult to get loans to fund their business.

    The devaluation of the naira and the bad roads are said to be affecting their operations.

    A source said the Federal Government is not helping matters

     by not getting terminal operators and shipping firms to reduce their charges.

    The President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu,  gave five reasons why importers abandoned their goods:

    • the ports are the most expensive in West Africa;
    • bad roads;
    • high exchange rate;
    • non-availability of trailer parks and holding bays for empty containers and
    • poor mechanism in controlling trucks and tankers that are coming to the ports and its environ

    Banks, an importer, Mr Festus Owolabi said, has stopped lending to importers because of the fall of the naira and the increase in the prices of goods.

    “There is no doubt that activities at the ports have reduced because of the exchange rate. The terminal operators and the shipping companies are also not helping matters. Our port is the most expensive in the sub-region. Most importers are not making profit and that is why they have decided to abandon their goods at the ports.

    ‘’The roads are bad. Many goods are trapped at the port; there is bound to be congestion, most of the importers borrowed money from the banks; before they collect their Bill of Lading, they must make the payment, but what is happening now is that, with the exchange rate, they are finding it difficult to get the balance and pay back to collect the papers and clear their cargoes.

    “Many importers with Bill of Lading are also finding it difficult to pay Customs duties because of the value of the naira and that is why goods worth billion of naira are trapped at the ports.

    “As the situation of the road is now, there is no cargo that does not go into demurrage in Nigeria because the shipping companies start collecting money immediately the cargo arrives at the port.” he said.

    He said importers pay N360 to N370 as official rate to a dollar for Customs’ transactions.

    A Customs officer, who pleaded anonymity, said many goods were trapped at the ports because of the bad roads, the exchange rate and the inability of the government to find solution to the traffic on the roads

    He said: “We are aware that many importers are finding it difficult to pay their duties, but there is nothing we can do because that is the revenue we are asked to collect by the government. Once an importer brings an item into our port, he must pay the necessary duty unless he or she was given waiver before the importation commences.

    “Except he pays the amount required by law, the only alternative opened to him is to abandon the goods. And that is why we are having so many containers, trucks and vehicles in the ports that have not been cleared by the importers. But my advice to them is to look for money, pay the duty and move their vehicles out of the ports before they become over-time cargo and confiscated by the government’’.

  • Ports: ships with petroleum products expected

    Ports: ships with petroleum products expected

    Twenty six ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos from Sept. 7 to Sept. 23.

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its publication, `Shipping Position’, a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

    NPA said that the ships contained buck wheat, bulk corn, bulk sugar, base oil, empty container, bulk maize, frozen fish, bulk salt, petrol and containers laden with goods.

    NAN reports that 10 ships arrived the ports waiting to berth with bulk fertiliser, bulk maize, steel products, diesel and petrol.

    NAN reports that 22 other ships are currently at the ports discharging bulk wheat, bulk corn, bulk fertiliser, general cargo, bulk gypsum, bulk sugar, frozen fish, petrol, buthane and crude palm olein. 

  • Customs generates N130b in Tin Can

    Customs generates N130b in Tin Can

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tincan Island Command generated N130,763,183, 793.00 between January and last month.

    Its Controller Y. U. Bashar, who spoke yesterday in Lagos while receiving  stakeholders in the maritime idustry in his office said  the statutory function of the command  remained revenue generation and facilitation of legitimate trade. He stressed that efforts were being made for port users to comply strictly  with alid down rules and  standards  of operation.

    He said the operations, processes and procedures of the NCS are fully automated to boost the trade facilitation programme of the Federal Government.

    The Controller however, said trade facilitation could only be achieved when the importers and clearing agents are transparent in their declarations.

    Reacting to the increase in the exchange rate for calculating import duty, Bashar pointed out that the NCS as an agency of the Federal Government is charged with the implementation of its fiscal policies in terms of trade.

    “It is instructive to note that the NCS by its statutory role, does not determine exchange rate, but only rely on the CBN to update us with the information in accordance with its establishing act.  It is therefore, pertinent to note that the current situation is beyond the Customs,” he said.

    The Controller added that the Command’s operational methodology is in tandem  with  the change ideology of the  Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd),  which encompasses discipline, integrity, transparency and due diligence.

    He told the group that there is a paradigm shift in the operational system of the command aimed at ensuring that the time of cargo delivery is reduced to the barest minimum.

    He expressed desire to sustain stakeholder engagement, strengthen professionalism, promote inter-agency collaboration and synergy and ensure robust relationship. He stressed the need for “on the job capacity building” to enhance knowledge of personnel, particularly of modern trends and practices which promote trade facilitation.

  • Tin-Can Island Customs revenue dips by N129.5m

    The Tin-Can Island Customs Command II, formerly known as Lilypond Command, Ijora yesterday said it recorded N531,814,240 revenue from various sources in July.

    It said the July revenue was N129, 516 million lower than the N661,330, 604 recorded in June.

    The command attributed the decline to the low volume of activities at the terminal occasioned by low level of importation.

    The command’s performance index is contained in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. It quoted the command‘s Controller, Alhaji Abdul-Kadir Dalhat, as saying that the command was devising practical ways of ensuring improved revenue profile in spite of challenges with importation.

    One of the measures, according to Dalhat, is the blockage of revenue loopholes to ensure all monies due to government were remitted to it.

    NAN reports that the command had, recently, announced N1.57billion revenue for May 2016.

  • ‘Why Apapa, Tin Can, Warri, other ports are expensive’

    ‘Why Apapa, Tin Can, Warri, other ports are expensive’

    Why are the country’s ports considered the most expensive in West Africa? It is because of the multiple import charges, according to investigations.

    These charges are hindering the government’s trade facilitation programme. But, other sub-regional port, such as that of Cotonou, are thriving.

    Besides, tracing capability and speed, poor yard planning and spacing, online accessibility of pricing and quick debt note reconciliation, among others, also make the ports expensive.

    Others include low level of automation and integration of handling process by government agencies with major stakeholders, such as terminal operators, importers, truck drivers and clearing agents; poor infrastructure investment profile by the government; unstreamlined movement of containers per crane, per hour from ships to stacking position and the trucks.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) president, Prince Olayiwola Shitu blamed the high cost of cargo processing at the ports on these factors.

    Importers, he said, clear many charges before taking their goods out of the ports, urging the government to address the problem and reduce the cost of doing business at the ports.

    Importers pay Customs duties and levies that are not uniform in most of the nation’s sea ports. Other tariff that make the ports expensive are the seven per cent development levy; one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme; 0.5 per cent  ECOWAS Trade Liberation Scheme (ETLS); NIMASA/NPA Sea Protection Levy (SPL); haulage cost – transportation per TEU and terminal operator progressive stage charges.

    Importers also pay terminal operator documentation; terminal operator examination; terminal operator scan fee; terminal operator scan loading fee; terminal operator delivery; terminal operator terminal handling and terminal operator labour fees.

    They also pay shipping line demurrage; shipping line agency; shipping line documentation; shipping lines telex release; Shipping line, container; shipping line container deposit fees; terminal operators two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line minimum of one month grace for container deposit refund; freight forwarders professional fee – unstreamilined; and several inconsiderate charges at the bounded terminals, among others.

    The President, Lagos Shippers Association, Mr Jonathan Nicol, said the five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) and the one per cent Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) charge were some of the charges.

    The others are the 35 per cent Automobile Levy and the Common External Tariff Levy.

    According to him, the combined charges on one consignment affect shipper’s profit.

    He urged the Federal Government to address industrialists’ cry to reduce the charges.

    According to him, the Federal Ministry of Finance should provide leadership in managing the problems of the shipping community.

    The shippers’ boss said the government should think about the huge investments in building the seaports and maritime prospects in the next 20 years to attract more cargoes.

    Nicol also suggested that plans must be made to secure and promote local industries, the manufacturing sector and the shippers.

    He noted that it was the duty of the government to encourage private entrepreneurs to contribute to the economy’s growth.

    “When you add the costs of generating power in a factory with salaries, these costs cannot be by-passed whether you like it or not.

    “You must provide power for your factory and you must pay staff salaries,” he said.

    Nicol said the bottlenecks at the ports were largely the reasons behind government’s appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator.

    He condemned the government’s inability to enforce the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable indigenous ship owners participate in crude oil lifting.

    He said the government should implement the law to allow indigenous shipping companies participate in oil business.

    A maritime lawyer, Mr Dipo Alaka, berated the government for not streamlining the charges.

    “To make matters worse, importers and clearing agents are compelled to pay demurrage on containers for the numbers of days containers remain at the port, even when there is system breakdown caused by the service providers.

    “Importers used to pay for terminal handling charges, container cleaning charges, manifest amendment upon request by an importer, container deposit (refundable) and container demurrage,” he said.

  • Fire, multiple explosion rock Tin Can Port

    Fire, multiple explosion rock Tin Can Port

    The Tin-Can Island Port was on fire Wednesday following the multiple explosions that rocked the petroleum company MRS Oil located inside the Lagos port.

    The incident, according to an eye witness account, stated around 11.15 a m.

    Not less than four people were confirmed by the representative of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at the scene,  Mr Ibrahim Farida to have died in the inferno.

    The Director shipping and Trade of the tank firm, Mr Marcos Storari however denied the alleged death report insisting that “there was no casualty recorded by our company.”

    Satori said Nigerian Ports Authority officials and other security agencies staff at the port had visited the scene. He however prevented reporters at the scene from entering their premises as he ordered the gate to be locked.

    Investigation, he said, was on to determine the cause of the fire.

    Security sources who witnessed the blast at the port however, told The Nation that so many people were injured and that the fire caused serious damage to the company because it took almost two hours for fire fighters to arrive the scene.

    “The fire started slowly from a tanker barge (ship) that was on its way to snake Island in Apapa and was followed by multiple explosions which resulted into chaos and people started running for their lives this morning (yesterday).

    “To tell you the gravity of the explosion, many people abandoned their vehicles on the port access road and ran for their lives after the second explosion,” the security officer said.