Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, has canvassed the need for customs to release seized vehicles at different customs warehouses to their legitimate owners.
Dr. Aniebonam who made this call last week when the Customs Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone A, Assistant Controller General (ACG) Dahiru Aminu, visited NAGAFF headquarters, also said that owners of the seized vehicles should be allowed to pay the appropriate duties and have their vehicles released instead rusting away at the warehouse.
He also advocated for training of freight forwarders as so many of them are ignorant of the consequences of false declaration, adding that owners of the seized vehicles should be penalized and their vehicles released to them.
“On customs vehicles all over everywhere both 2017, 2018 and all that lying down everywhere, the customs are not even selling auction. Why don’t we let them pay the appropriate duty, penalize them that is trade, it is contained in the customs law. Let me also tell you in case you think I don’t know what I am saying, I am aware that you have written something of this nature being an advice on the collection of appropriate duty”
Dr. Aniebonam who called for more synergy between the association and the service also added that there is need for the 2004 reform of the service to be revisited and more powers given to the zonal coordinators of the service.
He also reiterated the need to stop the constant seizure of traded goods by the service even as he charged customs to go for custom duty.
“Let us stop all these seizures when it is traded goods it doesn’t in any form add any value to customs primary responsibility. Do you know that some of these warehouses as I know are filled up I don’t know if they have constructed another warehouse to vacate some of the goods there, let us go for customs duty. We hope to see how we can partner together to bring progress, we don’t need to go to Abuja for minor things we can do at the zones. I will suggest that we continue and there is a need to revolve power in the customs after that reform of 2004. That very reform needs to be revisited so that the command here will be coordinating the zones, the headquarter is for policy direction, they formulate policy and hand it down for implantation”
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