Freight forwarders operating at the Seme border post have said that the poorly secured boundary between Nigeria and neighboring West African countries has given rise to the influx of smuggled used vehicles into the country.
The illegal routes whereby imported vehicles from neighboring ports (mostly Cotonou) pass through into the country has been described as too many for the customs to control as indigenes of the communities have seen those routes as a source of livelihood; making it difficult for government agencies to control.
Freight forwarders operating at the Seme border post have said that the poorly secured boundary between Nigeria and neighboring West African countries has given rise to the influx of smuggled used vehicles into the country.
The illegal routes whereby imported vehicles from neighboring ports (mostly Cotonou) pass through into the country has been described as too many for the customs to control as indigenes of the communities have seen those routes as a source of livelihood; making it difficult for government agencies to control.
Statistics also released by the Nigerian Customs Service has revealed that a total of 400,000 units of both used and new vehicles find their way into the country annually through approved and non approved borders posts.
However, stakeholders find it quite alarming even as they have noted that the nation's seaports cannot accommodate all imported vehicles into the ports.
They also added that the neighboring ports should be encouraged because the RORO ports cannot accommodate all the vehicles meant for Nigeria market.
A cross section of agents operating from the border post has expressed dissatisfaction at the inflow of vehicles into the country due to the poor state of the border even as they lamented that it has affected the business of clearing vehicles.
Vice President ,Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN) ,Mr. Innocent Elum told Auto Port Weekly in Lagos last week that it will be difficult for the customs alone to tackle the issue of smuggling in the borders.
Elum explained that the customs is yet to identify all the illegal routes where vehicles comes in and that some importers take the advantage of such routes in collaboration with indigenes of the such communities and villages.
He said the routes unmanned by security agencies create an atmosphere for business to thrive between the importers and indigenes of any of the unapproved route.
According to him, indigenes of such unapproved communities see smuggling of vehicles as a legitimate business which has created jobs for youths in their thousands.
He noted that legitimate importers patronize neighboring ports in West Africa simply because it is faster to clear compared to Nigerian ports and things like demurrage charges hardly occur.
He said " Nigeria is a consuming country, we don't have plants where we manufacture vehicles , we are import dependant and if not for the borders whereby some these vehicles are imported to the country,I can tell you that if all borders are shutdown, all borders are secured ,Nigerian ports cannot withstand every importation because what will come into the port cannot be cleared for two years", he added.
He also added that the Eastern ports would have been better to handle vehicles importation but the market is another factor that discourages importers.
In a similar reaction, Achusim Francis an importer expressed dissatisfaction with the RORO ports in Lagos.
According to him, there is no time wastage in the neighboring port located at Republic of Benin.
He urged the RORO terminals in Lagos to provide the necessary equipment to fasten the clearance of goods adding that it is another reason why importers patronize other ports in the region.
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