The recent interception and subsequent seizure of 661 guns in Lagos, after the container in which they were tacked had been duly cleared at Lagos port, has once again brought the issue of scanners in the ports to the fore.
So far, about four Customs officers and three others have been arrested and are being interrogated in connection with the importation of the lethal cargo.
Scanners have been introduced to the cargo clearance procedure as far back as when Destination Inspection was introduced and the Federal Government entered into a seven-year contract with the destination inspection service providers – Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited (CDIL), Global Scansystems and SGS, to build and operate inspection equipment.
No doubt, scanners, which can be fixed or mobile, are critical to the Customs’ Destination Inspection operations because they go a long way to improve upon the time and cost of doing business at the ports.
The scanners were handed over to Customs at the expiration of destination inspection contract in December 2013, making Customs responsible for the operations of the scanners. But, frequent breakdowns have made them unavailable and have made Customs to go back to 100 per cent examination of containers.
Customs has also confirmed that in the good days when the scanners were working at full capacity, Apapa customs alone used to scan between 450 and 500 containers a day. It even had to run day and night shifts among its officers.
Scanners are crucial tools in destination inspection of cargoes, because otherwise every container must be opened and physically examined, which will be time-consuming and makes room for mistakes and possible abuses.
Customs had claimed overtime that the destination inspection companies handed over near-dead scanners to them.
We recall that the immediate past Comptroller General of Customs; Dikko Inde Abdulahi promised to acquire news set of scanners for the Service, he never did. We are also aware that the incumbent; Col Hammed Ali (rtd) had also talked about the poor state of the scanners. He also promised to do something about it!
Reports have it that, former ACG in charge of Zone ‘A’; Mr Charles Edike had also at one point, explained why the scanners have become a pain in the neck of Customs and by extension, a pain in the neck of importers.
He explained that, only two of the three levels of scanner maintenance can be carried out by the Customs while one level of maintenance is the duty of the manufacturer. He said when the scanners’ manufacturer was contacted to carry out its part of the maintenance schedule; it argued that its agreement was with the service providers and not with the Customs Service.
Edike further said when the former contractors were not forthcoming to get the scanners working, the Customs brought in foreign experts to work on the fixed scanners. The scanners were fixed, but they worked for only two weeks before they packed up again! Afterwards, he said Customs asked its officers to work on the scanners and they managed to put them to work, only for a short time.
He assured that the Comptroller General of Customs was working hard to get over the challenges posed by failed scanners.
There is no doubt that the non-availability of scanners has made Nigerian ports very vulnerable and easy for importers to smuggle all manner of cargoes into the country.
Lack of scanning machines and use of 100 per cent physical examination in the ports have led to so many malpractices.
In the absence of scanners, personnel of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Police, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Standards Organisation of Nigerian (SON) and others have been having field day.
The result is that Nigerian ports have become very expensive, and a fertile ground for sharp practices, including importation of arms and ammunition.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had also frowned at 100% per cent physical examination of cargoes at ports by officers of Nigeria Customs Service, saying that it poses significant corruption risks to port processes.
This verdict was contained in a final report of Corruption Risk Assessment conducted by the ICPC in six major Nigerian ports; Tin Can, Port Harcourt, Onne, Warri and Calabar ports.
Perhaps, it is pertinent to ask: Why did the scanners that Destination Inspection agents handed-over to Customs stop working shortly after the Customs took charge?
While there is no evidence of sabotage, can we also ask- Was the Customs fully prepared for destination inspection and ‘ownership’ of the scanners when it took over, aren’t the officers more comfortable with physical examination which allows them freeway? The questions are endless.
More importantly, why did the successive Customs management fail to pay attention to an item that will help the Service to carry out its assignment more efficiently?
We think that, if the scanners were working as they ought to, it would have been difficult for the 661 guns to evade inspection as happened recently.
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