NEW POLICY ON VEHICLE IMPORTATION:    

• Nets N1.5 Billion In December
 
As hundreds of vehicles are trapped across Nigeria’s border with Benin Republic, owing to the new policy which forbids importation of vehicles into the country through land border, the Seme command of the Nigeria Customs Service over the weekend said it has dismantled the ‘vehicle seat’, where such vehicles are cleared.
The command also disclosed that officers who were previously manning the sensitive seat have been redeployed on patrol of the various border arteries to effectively ensure that such vehicles are not brought into the country through the back door.
The Command’s Area Controller; Comptroller Victor Dimka, who disclosed this also added that the command collected about N1.5Billion in December 2016. He said the Command also collected a total of about N10.5Billion in 2016.
Dimka said the revenue was collected from general cargoes and vehicles, adding that duty and taxes also accrued from escorted transit vehicles.
The controller said the command recorded 848 seizures with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N608.21 million in the period under review.
According to him, “there is a corresponding decline in smuggling activities occasioned by the aggressive anti-smuggling operation of the command”
“This is in order to ensure total compliance with the policy thrust of the Comptroller General of Customs and the Service’s extant laws”.
On the new policy on importation of vehicles into the country, Comptroller Dimka said the Command is battle ready to implement the new policy.
He confirmed that, the vehicle seat at the Seme border Command has been disbanded and its officers redeployed to beef-up border patrols. He said this was done, “bearing in mind that the dare- devil smugglers can be brutal and deadly”.
He said the way smuggling of rice was drastically suppressed by the command, “it is also fully committed to implementing same for vehicles that will be smuggled through the land border after January 1, 2017.’’ 
Dimka warned the general public, especially stakeholders to be adequately sensitised and stay away from buying vehicles through the land borders to avoid loses.
He cautioned that legitimate trade in new and fairly used vehicles into Nigeria is now strictly facilitated at the seaports.
“The Federal Government has directed that importation of cars through the land borders should be banned and we are the agency that would enforce it so we have started with that.
“The border is close to the point of importation of cars and the command has placed its men and escorts at strategic places to ensure that there is no smuggling of cars through the border.
“We also have a good working relationship and synergy with other security agencies who assist us in enforcing this policy because we all work for the same government.
“We advise the public to abide by the government policy and if they must purchase a car then it should come through the sea port as any vehicle that tries to come through the land border would be seized and confiscated.
“Violators of the law would face the full wrath of the law,’’ he said.