South-West car dealers protest over alleged extortion, harassment by Customs in Ondo

Car dealers under the auspices of the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON) from Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo States on Monday stormed Akure, the Ondo State capital, protesting what they described as persistent extortion, harassment, and illegal seizure of vehicles by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

The protesters, mostly dealers in Tokunbo (used) cars, converged on the Ondo/Ekiti Customs Command headquarters in Akure, chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as: “We pay duty, stop the harassment,” “Customs – Uphold the Law, Not Extortion,” and “Release Our Vehicles.”

Vehicular traffic was disrupted for hours as the demonstrators demanded an immediate end to what they termed illegal practices by Customs operatives.

According to the dealers, vehicles legally cleared at Lagos ports are still being intercepted on highways, subjected to arbitrary revaluation, and forced to pay additional unofficial fees.

They alleged that Customs officers often cite “watch lists” or internal directives as excuses to impound cars, even after statutory duties had been settled.

The dealers demanded free passage for duly cleared vehicles without repeated checkpoints, and called for an end to unofficial charges, inflated valuations, and bribes by operatives.

Addressing journalists after a meeting with the Comptroller of Customs for Ondo/Ekiti Command, Queen Obazee, the National Vice President (South West) of AMDON, Alhaji Ibrahim Bankole Adeniyi, said the protest was long overdue.

“We came here because of the way they embarrass us, stop us on the road, and issue fresh bills after we have cleared vehicles from the ports. It’s exploitation.

“They collect money from us at the port, and when we get to our states, they still collect more. That’s why we came en masse to fight for our rights,” Adeniyi said.

He noted that the protest was peaceful and appreciated Comptroller Obazee for granting audience to the dealers, even though she denied knowledge of the alleged extortion and promised to investigate.

“We came here because of the way they embarrass us, the way they stop us on the road, the way they collect our cars and issue fresh bills after we have cleared them from the ports. We are from Ondo State, Ekiti State, Oyo State, Lagos State, Ogun State, generally the Southwest, and we are here.
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“It’s an exploitation. Yes, they are collecting illegal money from us, which is wrong. Already they have collected money from the port before, and getting to our states, they are still demanding and collecting another money from us. That’s why we came here en masse, to fight for our rights,” Adeniyi said

Adeniyi, however, hailed the Comptroller Obazee for giving them attention, saying, that the Comptroller denied knowledge over the harassment and extortion and promised to look into their grievance, as there was no such directives from her office

“She’s a very nice woman. She promised us many things, which she has been carrying out with immediate effect and she promised us that harassment and extortion will not be allowed by the command”

He said, “this meeting is a continuous one but we have reached a point and moving towards resolving this issues and I am sure we will resolve. But if they fail to resolve this issue with us, this protest will still continue. We gave them an ultimatum, and we wish they comply with us.

“‎So I want to appeal to our members to remain calm and resolve this difference once and for all. ‎We are stakeholders in Nigeria today. Talking about transportation, we are stakeholders.

“If our customers are complaining, cars that we sold five years ago being arrested again, you know it’s a slap on us. So they want to kill and drive us out of business. But to the glory of God, we sat down with the Comptroller and the meeting is positive.

“The Comptroller promised us that harassment and extortion will not be allowed by the command. The meeting was positive, but if nothing changes, this protest will continue. We are stakeholders in Nigeria’s economy, and we won’t allow our businesses to be destroyed,” Adeniyi stressed.

Also speaking, the Ondo State Chairman of AMDON, Mr. Jenyo Ogunlade, accused some officers of collecting between ₦200,000 and ₦1 million in illegal duties from dealers.

“We pay duty at Apapa and clear our vehicles, yet they still impound them and extort us heavily. They want to kill our business. We won’t relent until this injustice stops,” Ogunlade said.

The dealers, however, vowed to sustain the protest until their grievances are addressed and sanity is restored to Customs operations on South West highways.

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