The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, has said that the service collected more than N1 billion duty on about 5,000 vehicles imported into Nigeria through neighbouring countries.
Abdullahi, who is the immediate past Vice Chairman for West and Central African Region of World Customs Organisations (WCO), disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja.
According to Abdullahi, the WCO encourages the establishment of regional cooperation on transit and security matters.
The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, has said that the service collected more than N1 billion duty on about 5,000 vehicles imported into Nigeria through neighbouring countries.
Abdullahi, who is the immediate past Vice Chairman for West and Central African Region of World Customs Organisations (WCO), disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja.
According to Abdullahi, the WCO encourages the establishment of regional cooperation on transit and security matters.
“It also helps to secure the cooperation of our neighbours in handing over transit vehicles to NCS.
“So far, over 5,000 vehicles have been handed over with duty of over N1 billion.
“This has helped to save resources often deployed to pursue smugglers’’, he added.
He said Nigeria’s activities at WCO led to the signing of cooperation agreement by NCS with customs administrations of USA, Argentina, South Africa, UAE and Turkey between 2011 and 2014.
Abdullahi said the United States and India had supported Nigeria in capacity building on border patrol operations and valuation matters in the last four years.
He added that NCS had been exposed to global best practices in customs administration through its active participation in the WCO’s activities.
“From our interactions with WCO members in our region and other parts of the world, we have been exposed to global best practice in customs administration.
“We are bringing this experience to bear on the management of customs in Nigeria’’, he said.
The comptroller-general said WCO had 23 participating members in West and Central Africa, since his assumption of office as the vice chairman for the region in 2010.
He stated that the meeting of directors-General of five customs administrations of Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria in March had started yielding results in the area of border security.
Abdullahi added that the joint border patrol by the region’s customs administrations would soon commence.
He said that WCO, under his tenure, assisted many countries in the region in the area of trans-border security, promotion of regional trade and capacity building for customs administration.
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