Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service. (NCS) said on Thursday that it raked in N95.3 billion in January as against N54.3 billion collected in the same period in 2021.
The collection surpassed January 2021 revenue with N39 billion, this is even as the Controller of the Command, Comptroller Yussuf Malanta has reiterated that the command is committed to surpassing its revenue collection of N870 billion in 2021.
The Command stated this in a press statement issued by its Public Relations Officer; Deputy Superintendent of Customs Abubakar Usman .
It also informed that nine containers of unprocessed and semi processed wood was intercepted at the point of loading into a vessel.
The command also said that a container of unregistered pharmaceutical (codeine syrup and col caps) with duty paid value of N78,797,975.00 was also seized
Giving a breakdown of the wood seizures’ value, the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Yusuf Malanta said it is worth N70,559,775.00
Comptroller Yusuf attributed the success of the command to inter-agency synergies between customs and sister organisations like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
He said the collaboration with NDLEA has helped in gathering intelligence, leading to seizures of prohibited items as the command acts swiftly on reliable information without waiting for importers to come forward before effecting examination on suspected cargoes.
He said efforts at making Apapa Port a no-go area for unlawful trade will always be sustained while ensuring that maximum revenue is collected into government coffers from all legitimate transactions.
The command explained that while arrests are yet to be made, the CAC said investigations are ongoing by the NCS and NDLEA to detect, arrest and prosecute perpetrators of the illegal importation.
Read Also: Apapa jetty, others need upgrade for smooth product distribution – Regulator
The Comptroller noted that these are seizures of timber and rock balsam, under HS Code 44011000 to 44039000, and they contravene Sections 63 and 64 of the Export Trade (improper exportation of items).
He added that the command is going to make sure that recalcitrant traders are brought to book and exportation of prohibited items are not allowed to pass through Apapa port.
The DPV of the wood for all nine containers stood at ₦70, 559,775.00
“Another container number TCKU 6800526 which was laden with 702 cartons of codeine syrup (each carton contains 200 pieces) and 347 cartons of Col caps (each carton contains 2,000 pieces) was also seized by the command, with a street value of ₦78,787,975.00”
Controller Yusuf further commended officers/men of the command for not relenting in discharging their official responsibilities.
Speaking also the NDLEA Commander in Apapa Port, Samuel Gadzama promised stronger synergy with customs to prevent such importation and added that upon due diligence through a court process, the seized drugs would be publicly destroyed in line with extant laws.
Kindly like us on Facebook
Discussion about this post