Customs react as rodents take over abandoned scanning building at Lagos Port

Customs scanning building constructed inside the Apapa Port container terminal, which has remained abandoned and un-removed for more than 10 years, is currently taken over by rodents.

Checks by the Nigerian Tribune further revealed that the Federal Ministry of Transportation, in 2021, asked the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to remove the scanning building during the construction of the standard gauge rail, but two years after that directive, the building is still standing, occupying yard of space that could have been put to more productive use.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on why the building is still there, a Customs official who would not want his name in print explained that, “The scanning building is still there because of its nuclear components.

“It’s not a structure that can just be pulled down by anybody. For it to be pulled down, it requires expertise involvement. There are nuclear components in that building that can be injurious to human beings. That’s why when the Federal Ministry of Transportation asked Customs to remove it back in 2021, it wasn’t removed because it was difficult getting the manufacturers to come to Nigeria to help remove it.

“It is only the manufacturers of the scanners inside the building that can de-activate them.  Bringing them to Nigeria has been difficult and that’s why the abandoned scanning building is still there.”

Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the abandoned facility, a port official explained that if the building had been removed, the space it currently occupies could have been put to more fruitful use.

“The structure has been there abandoned for years. The building is now house to rodents and other stuffs. If it had been removed in 2021, the space it currently occupies could have been put to good use by the terminal operator.

“The building is just there, serving no purpose. Customs recently deployed a mobile scanner to the Lagos Port and that’s what is being used to scan containers at the port,” the port official who wouldn’t want his name in printsaid.

Responding to enquiries on why the abandoned scanner building is still inside the Apapa port, spokesman of Apapa Customs Command, Abubakar Usman, said Customs were asked to remove a portion of the building that obstructs the standard gauge rail line and that has been duly complied with.

“We were asked to remove a portion of the scanner building that was obstructing the rail project last year and we have done that.

“On whether the building has been taken over by rodents, I don’t think that is true, but I know the scanners inside the building are not being used for now due to faulty issues,” Usman told the Nigerian Tribune.

When asked if there are plans to repair the scanners, Usman said, “I don’t know about that. Only the Customs management or our scanner manager will be able to give details about that.”

Also speaking on the abandoned scanner building, the national spokesman of Customs, Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada, said a committee had been set up to look at appropriate action on the faulty scanners.

Maiwada said, “During the last visit of the CGC to the port, he visited the scanner building and inspected it. A committee has been set up to look at appropriate action on what to do next on the scanners.”

When reminded that port users are saying the building has been taken over by rodents, Maiwada said, “You know that the scanner building contains highly radioactive components. It can’t just be removed like any other building.

“The committee set up is looking at it and when likely solutions come up, it will be a management decision in consultation with other relevant stakeholders.”