By Joshua Yousouph
Clearing Agents operating in Lagos ports have knocked the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the presence of multiple intervention units of the service in the port and placing multiple alerts on consignments. This is even as they lamented that such activities distort trade facilitation and free movement of cargoes in and out of the port.
In a chat with our correspondent, the National Public Relations Officer, of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders (AREFFN), Mr Taiwo Fatomilola alleged that these multiple units from customs send alerts to witness cargo examination to collect illegal charges from the consignment.
Fatomilola noted that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) also has other units in the port, but they work and operate together under one umbrella, unlike the Nigeria Customs Service. According to him, these illegal operations only exist in the Western part and not in other regions of the country.
He said, “the Customs are not authentic and most of the things they are saying are not practical. They have the examination report they write. Now bringing FOU, Strike Force and Customs Police is a duplication of duty.
“We have the different types of Police units all at the port such as the CID, Monitoring Unit and the likes, but they are combined together under one umbrella; operating as one unit. But Customs have different units in the same port. The only time you have a problem with the Police is when you exit out of the port because they are trying to replicate what the Customs are doing by extorting money from containers.
“At the point of Examination, the CIU, Release Officer, Valuation and Enforcement units must be there because if you don’t invite them, they will alert you. We also have the person at the gate too. That is where money exchanges hands. If they are aggrieved maybe the money is not enough, then they will send information to the officers outside. That is why the Customs said they act on information. The release officer will not release your cargo if you don’t settle FOU. We can only see these here in the West, it doesn’t not happen in other regions” he alleged.
The Tin Can Chapter Public Relations Officer of the African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (APFFLON), Mr Clinton Okoro also decried the multiplicity of Customs intervention units in and out of the port, adding that their activities greatly hamper trade facilitation and free movement of cargo at the ports.
“In my understanding the Customs Police, FOU and Strike Force should not have anything to do with examinations, because they have Resident officers. The whole thing boils down to the fact that these are distractions. Talking about trade facilitation, all these Units are just distorting free movement of cargo.
“No matter how compliant you are, immediately the cargo leaves the port you are likely going to face these units. Custom Police operate at night, yet they don’t have a checkpoint. At night, they roam and each container they see, they stop it. There is nothing like intelligence. Every night we see Customs Police around Ijora Bridge. Immediately after Area B’ Police station in Apapa, you would see FOU and Strike Force stopping containers.
“To me, these are just duplications of jobs. You have the CIU who have done all the checks, the resident officers have done their part and the releasing officer has released the container and it has gone through the gate. If there is anything wrong with the documentation, the system should detect it. Why stop containers that have already exited out of the port? Sometimes we see a Customs officer of two bars stopping a container that a Deputy Comptroller released. If you say you have intelligence on a container that is exited out of the port, then what about the person who released the job? These are the questions we are asking”, Okoro said.
At a meeting with freight forwarders and other stakeholders, last week, the Provost Marshal, Nigeria Customs Police Unit, Ikeja Zone “A”, Assistant Comptroller, B.S Sani noted that multiple alerts from Customs intervention units which Include, the Federal Operation Unit (FOU), Strike Force and Customs Police are expected to be treated at the same time.
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Sani explained that it is illegal for any unit of Customs to mount any checkpoint within Lagos. He said the units are only permitted to rove. He added that the Customs Police don’t block containers or create checkpoints and that they only stop containers outside the port when there is credible intelligence from Customs headquarters.
He said “When you receive multiple alerts from Trade and Tariff (T&T), Strike Force, FOU, and Customs Police, kindly insist that they should be treated at the same time. As a Customs Police, what am I hiding that I don’t want the Federal Operations Unit or the Strike Force to know? The Customs Police is to checkmate them and make sure they do the right thing. So if all of us have alerts, it should be treated at the same time at the same place.
“The Federal Operations are not supposed to treat your documents. If they have intelligence which they will claim to, and it is on Value, then it is not within their jurisdiction or function. They can only have intelligence on the contents of the container. The CIU will only gather intelligence and then pass it on to the relevant unit of Customs”, he said.
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