Some Lagos-based automobile dealers have charged the management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to sack vehicles releasing officers at the Lagos ports where some of the vehicles suspected to have breached the customs rules were released, they said the action will serve as a way of sanctioning the officers.
The dealers who said this in separate interviews in Lagos, also frowned at the September 30, 2019 raid and sealing of their shops by Customs officers across country ,especially in Lagos by even as they fingered licensed customs agents and some officers of the service of conniving to deny government of its revenue.
They described sealing of their business premises as unlawful; adding that car dealers shouldn’t be the only one to be punished for offences jointly committed by some officers of the service and licensed customs agents.
One of the dealers, who simply gave his name as Chidera, told our correspondent that all the cars in their business premises were duly cleared and appropriate duties paid to the Federal Government, yet the service is still raising Debit Note (DN) for the vehicles.
“They raised duties on them and we have paid and they are also bringing Debit Note (DN) on the cars. Remember that some of us are using bank loans to do this business and for one month now you have locked our shops. Take for instance a 2005 model of Toyota Corolla, you gave us a duty of N500, 000 and while the car was on the road travelling, you asked the owner to go and pay extra money again”
Another dealer, Mr. Henry reiterated the need for the custom service to be bold enough to deal with its officers that are culpable, adding that it is not good for dealers to suffer from what they know nothing about.
“The PRO of Customs I think is a very active person; he knows that his people are culpable in the operations going on at the ports. Why will a car dealer suffer for things that go on at the ports, we don’t clear cars, what we do is to import cars and we ask customs licensed agents to clear these cars and they will tell us what to pay and our cars are cleared”
“But they have said that they have licensed agents which we contracted and the cars were cleared. We are not going to pay any extra charges on those cars as long as they have been cleared by the officers and we are asking them to come and open our shops immediately and take responsibility of their actions”, he stressed.
Another dealer who doesn’t want his name in print said that you cannot be a judge in your own case, stressing the need for the service to have obtained a court injunction before sealing their business places.
“We are in a country where we are operating democracy and I don’t see the why anybody can be an accuser and still the judge. I am also aware that in our law, there is place that is stated clearly that you cannot be a judge in your own case”
“If you accuse me of not paying duty and you want to seal-off my business, what you need to do is to go to court and obtain an order if there is no order and you block the shop it is not good. It is not only peculiar with customs it is everywhere”
“You cannot be a judge in your own case you have to take them to the court there must be an order form the court. These cars pass through the borders and seaports you cannot impose your inefficiency on car dealers, are you supposed to punish them like that, how many custom officers have been punished for allowing all these things to go out”
“The issue is that the government is looking for money and they are looking for a way of getting the money. They have to go to the court and obtain order before sealing the business centers”, he concluded.
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