The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Thursday said that in the first quarter of 2022, it made N264,536,201,293.71 revenue, recording a significant increase of N104billion as against N159billion collected in the same period in 2021, representing an increase of 65.7% in revenue collection. This is even as the Command recorded N34,072,869,799.00, with a Free On Board (FOB) value of $87.992,356.10 USD from exportation of agricultural goods, mineral resources, steel, etc, as against N30.2 billion (FOB value of $82.1m) between January and March 2021.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Comptroller Yusuf Malanta made this known on Thursday during a press briefing on the Command’s scorecard in the areas of Import/Export trade, anti-smuggling activities and trade facilitation for the period under review.
“This feat was made possible because of our officers’ creativity and leveraging on the service IT platform to ensure all revenue leakages have been mitigated, as well as sustaining the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearance value chain,” he said.
In its anti-smuggling drive, the command recorded 46 seizures of various items with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1,142,876,606.00, indicating 18 seizures more than 28 made in the corresponding months of the year 2021.
The seizures include unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine syrup, unprocessed wood, used clothing, footwear, foreign parboiled rice and other sundry items that contravene sections 46 and 47 of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) CAP C45 LFN 2004.
The CAC said: “Anti-smuggling activities have been a matter of central concern in the command, particularly with the activities of recalcitrant traders who are always looking for ways to undermine our system. The enforcement unit has been strengthened through strict monitoring, enhanced collaboration and sharing of credible intelligence with relevant government agencies to suppress smuggling activities to their barest minimum.
“At this juncture, let me reiterate that Apapa Command is always ready to assist in facilitating legitimate trade and ensuring that all forms of smuggling activities through a false declaration on import/export done in defiance to extant trade guidelines will be detected through our layers of control mechanism.”
He disclosed that some of the suspects arrested in connection with the seizures have already been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), while others are facing various criminal charges in court.
The Comptroller called on stakeholders to join forces with the command and ensure that items that are on the import/export prohibition list are strictly adhered to while urging them to prepare for the emerging realities of customs examination through the non-intrusive inspection (NII) regime.
“The non-intrusive inspection regime is targeted at increasing volume of cargo inspection, saving cost/clearing time, storing reliable data and Images for reference purposes and reducing human contact in the examination of containerized cargoes leading to delay in the clearance time,” he explained.
Compt. Malanta stated that the glowing commendations the Command has received recently from the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and his management team have further strengthened its drive to sustain the tempo and up the ante in discharging its responsibilities.
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