• Custom Suspends Operations Temporarily
There was palpable tension yesterday at the Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) command of the Nigeria Custom Service as it temporarily alleged suspended operations over an attack on its Deputy Controller in charge of valuation by some aggrieved clearing agents.
Shipping Position Daily correspondent who visited the terminal yesterday gathered that the aggrieved clearing agents had on Tuesday afternoon pounced on the valuation officer whose identity was simply given as Deputy Comptroller Jack over allegation of compromise and bribe- taking on imported vehicles.
Consequently, the customs suspended operations at its valuation unit, insisting that, it will remain s, until the perpetrators of the act were produced by the various freight forwarding associations at the command.
Speaking with our correspondent yesterday after a meeting with the leadership of the associations; NAGAFF and ANLCA,the image maker of the command, Mr. Steve Okonma explained that the order to suspend operations had been given from the customs headquarters in Abuja.
Our correspondent also noticed the presence of heavily armed officers of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A' Ikeja at the PTML port yesterday as they barred freight forwarders from entering into customs premises.
Speaking further on the fracas, Okonma said that "two days ago, some hoodlums attacked the DC valuation, by so doing they have attacked an institution, if an action is not taken, this action will continue because this is not the first time, this should be the end"
"All we are saying is that they should produce the people who did the crime"
"For two days now, the legitimate revenue that is supposed to accrue to the government is not coming in because of an action of some disgruntled elements, the terminal operators also could not work"
He claimed that the valuation officer was in his office when the agents had attacked his office and destroyed office windows. According to him, trouble started because the officer had refused to compromise over a vehicle of 2012 being declared wrongly as 2004.
But speaking with Shipping Position Daily, chairman of PTML chapter of ANLCA, Prince Bola Adesokan explained that the said perpetrators whom he claimed are not members of ANLCA or NAGAFF had produced evidence to show that the officer had been collecting bribes from clearing agents to release vehicles wrongly declared.
Adesokan however said that the associations cannot produce the culprits because they are not members of any of the associations. He said that associations chapter executives had appealed to the custom management at a meeting yesterday to resume operations as the issue is not the fault of the associations but that there was no positive response from the Controller, Mr. Tajudeen Olanrewaju
"We got to know that these people are not ANLCA members or NAGAFF members, they are just ordinary agents".
"We asked them why they fight the customs, and they brought their documents to show their name and number to show that the OC valuation took money from them, the document is still with us, these agents were very aggrieved and they asked him to give them their money back or raise a debit note, if you have taken bribe, you cannot eat your cake and have it".
"I cannot tender somebody I don't know, they are not my members, we have a register of our members, I only took the document they brought to us to the CAC", he stated.
Also speaking with Shipping Position Daily, Vice Chairman of ANLCA Board of Trustees (BOT) Aare Sani Shittu assured that the leadership of the association has already waded into the issue.
Work however resumed at PTML later after the command reportedly got a directive from the Customs headquarters that work should resume but that they should not attend to any member of the associations.
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