The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has said that a total of 6,653 units of vehicles were cleared at the command between April and June 2014 even as a total of N1, 084,644,883.00 was generated in the process.
A statement sent to Auto Port Weekly last week, by the command’s public relations officer, Mr. Ernest Ollotah, quoted the Area Controller of the command; Comptroller Willy Egbudin as reporting that , within the period under review, vehicles import transit regime debuted at Seme border on the 23rd of April 2014 .
The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has said that a total of 6,653 units of vehicles were cleared at the command between April and June 2014 even as a total of N1, 084,644,883.00 was generated in the process.
A statement sent to Auto Port Weekly last week, by the command’s public relations officer, Mr. Ernest Ollotah, quoted the Area Controller of the command; Comptroller Willy Egbudin as reporting that , within the period under review, vehicles import transit regime debuted at Seme border on the 23rd of April 2014 .
He stressed that since the commencement of the programme in April to June this year, N1, 084, 644,833.00 has been recorded and a total number 6,653 vehicles were cleared in the period.
Giving an insight into how the vehicles import transit regime came about, the spokesperson disclosed that: ‘’Borne out of his concern for the security of the nation, suppression of smuggling, improvement in revenue collection and facilitation of trade, the Comptroller General of Customs led other Directors General of customs of proximate countries of Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger to a historic meeting on March 16th in Abuja’’.
According to him ‘’ this policy made it possible that all Nigeria-bound vehicles from the affected countries will be handed over to the Nigeria Customs Service by the country’s customs administration after due clearance’’.
In line with the new arrangement, the Comptroller stated that officers in the command no longer engage in hazardous task of chasing vehicles being smuggled through the bushes, adding that it has drastically reduced the smuggling of vehicles and increased the command’s revenue collection.
He urged the general public to ignore any internet site where vehicles are auctioned; pointing out that the Nigeria Customs Service has often warned citizens about vehicle.
“The Comptroller said that the introduction of Pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) and the Vehicle Import Transit process are initiatives of the CGC”, which according to him, are innovations that have eased the process of importation of vehicles.
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