LANRE ADEWOLE, BOLA BADMUS, TOLA ADENUBI, CHUKWUMA OKPARAOCHA and CHIMA NWOKOJI dug into the coming boom and doom as countdown begins to the controversial ban on vehicles from land borders.
The recipe looks complete. This soup is definitely going to be tasty for them, even if it would be vinegar on other tongues. They can see the boom coming for them out of the doom of countless others. It is surely their season and they can’t be begrudged because they didn’t ask to be favoured. The situation simply plays into their favour. A couple of them confirmed what was obvious to Saturday Tribune: “all parties in the coming crisis are already coming to us”. The “parties” are Customs officers and smugglers. The “coming crisis” is the expected deadly confrontation between both parties in the enforcement of the ban on tokunbo vehicles through land borders. The “us” are herbalists and clerics who are in the business of fortifying both criminals and law enforcers. The “already coming” is the spiked patronage by both smugglers and Customs officers, with the announcement of the ban.
“Nobody wants to be caught napping. Ali [Customs boss, Colonel Hammed Ali rtd] will make us do it (enforce the ban) and you know these people [smugglers] won’t just disappear from the land borders because of the ban. They are either going to increase bribe offers or get deadlier. They know they can’t beat us to gun fight, so it is these babas [herbalists], alagbas and alfas [Christian prophets and Muslim clerics] that they will want to move closer to. But our people [officers] are not sleeping too [officers are fortifying themselves]. That is all I can tell you”, an official source volunteered.
When the controversial ban was announced by the Federal Government, all eyes were on it as the major beneficiary of the huge revenue expected to accrue from higher patronage at ports which the ban is likely to facilitate. Corrupt customs officers were also projected into the illegal gains of the ban since they would be expected to increase the bribe monies being demanded from auto dealers who use neighbouring ports en route land borders to bring their wares into the country. Clearing agents at Nigerian seaports are equally seen as likely beneficiaries of increased patronage and near monopoly. Smugglers are also expected to make more money from successful vehicle smuggling runs. But virtually no one thought of the spiritual fortifiers. But in reality, they are arguably the most favoured with the ban. With little or no stress, business is suddenly booming on their sides while others are lamenting.
Saturday Tribune allowed an herbalist to speak of the good fortune. In an exclusive interview, the trado-medical practitioner, who resides around Sango-Ota but declined to have his name in print, stated that the recent ban could lead to a migration of some herbalists towards the border towns because many of them enjoy patronage from smugglers.
The coming war
“You know, smugglers constitute a huge percentage of the clients some of us [herbalists] who reside around border towns enjoy. They come to us for fortification against bullets penetration and all sorts of charms.
“The kind of job they do, which involves confronting Customs officers in thick bushes along border towns, exposes them to exchange of gunfire sometimes. Some of them come to us for fortification to avoid being killed during this exchange of gunfire.
“Now that the Federal Government has banned vehicle importation through the land borders, we expect smuggling to increase, meaning more patronage for some of us. Although I am not relocating, I am not ruling out such because the lure of more patronage could force others to do so”, the herbalist said.
When asked how much it costs a smuggler to fortify himself against bullets penetration, he explained that it depends on what the smugger is interested in. “Some smugglers would want fortification against bullets penetration while some would insist that anytime they are approaching, the guns of the Customs officials should not work until they leave that area. Some other people come for charms that would make them invisible and others ask for charms that would make their [Customs personnel’s] pursuit unsuccessful. So, the cost ranges from N20,000 to N50,000”, he said.
It was even a Customs officer who spoke anonymously to Saturday Tribune that warned against names being mentioned because Ali could ask even the reporters involved in talking to the fortifiers to point out the herbalists, clerics and prophets who have been fortifying smugglers against his officers. It is as if everybody that would be in the thick of the ban business wants to be elusive. In fact, client confidentiality kept the lips tighter. While the fortifiers confirmed that “business” had begun with them despite the ban enforcement still about two weeks away from now, they were careful not to give much away during chats with Saturday Tribune.
Contacts made with some of the fortifiers showed a sharp contrast between those of traditional faith and other faiths. It was as if only the herbalists were proud of the patronage by the smugglers and “land importers”.
Spokesman of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A Command, Ikeja of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Jerome Attah, told Saturday Tribune that the service would not be bothered by any antics from smugglers.
According to him, the ban is a Federal Government policy, which the service would enforce firmly no matter whose ox is gored.
On reports that smugglers could become increasingly dangerous with arms and charms, Attah said the Customs was ready to confront the smugglers, “irrespective of what they use”.
Fortification boom
A prophet, who was squeezed for comments by one of our correspondents, was of the opinion that speaking gleefully of the transactions between “men of God and criminals (smugglers) would look somehow but to speak the truth, who does not try to protect his business one way or the other, regardless of where they go to. There are genuine people [men of God] and there are fakes and everybody appreciates everybody.”
His take on genuineness of purpose was corroborated by his traditional colleague: “I expect more herbalists to relocate to border towns because more people will go into smuggling. With this ban, the economic status of some people will become more chronic. While some people depend on smuggling for a livelihood, others prefer to bring in vehicles through the land borders legitimately.
“But with this ban, even those that do legitimate business as regards importation of vehicles will now be made to bring them in forcefully. This means they too will become smugglers. And if they venture into smuggling, they will have the Customs to contend with, so they too will need to fortify themselves because everybody wants to eat.
“So, more herbalists will be sought after and more hands will be needed around that area. Normally, under this condition, herbalists, both fake and original, will thrive on these smugglers because they will want to bring in their vehicles at all costs.
“I expect the fake herbalists to relocate more than the original ones because if you believe in what you do, you won’t seek people out; rather, people will seek you out. Like me, I reside in Sango-Ota, yet smugglers come from far places to consult me. I don’t need to relocate to border towns to make a living. They will come to me because I don’t do fake fortification for my clients.”
Faceoff between Customs officers and smugglers is as old as both parties. When the nation’s economy was doing well in the 60s and 70s and importation through land borders wasn’t too fashionable, both sides were neither friends nor sworn enemies. With increase in banned imported goods which are in high demands among consumers, dogfights between both have assumed a deadly dimension with close to 100 officers paying with their lives.
Though the officers’ deaths always make more news than smugglers, Saturday Tribune was told by an officer that his colleagues had also sent hundreds of smugglers to their early graves in the course of defending themselves. Now, both sides agree that the battle ahead is going to get more crimson.
Saturday Tribune was in Badagry, a hotbed of smuggling clashes to feel the pulse. According to residents, the business of smuggling is dangerous, and it is almost unthinkable for anyone to venture into it without some form of magical power.
There are many stories about smugglers and native doctors in Badagry. Some of the residents who spoke to Saturday Tribune during the week said they grew up hearing stories of gunshots and magical escapes. According to one such story, sometimes, when shots are fired, the smuggler literally disappears. At other times, the bullets fail to hit the target. Sometimes, too, someone else appears and dies in the smuggler’s stead.
But, according to these residents, enforcement agents also visit native doctors for similar reasons. For example, it is said that pieces of white cloth obtained from native doctors are often tied over the muzzle of the guns used by officials to prevent smugglers from escaping. The same result is said to be achieved when the butt of the gun is hit on the ground three times before it is fired.
According to Biodun Seyon, who has lived in Badagry all his life, it would be difficult for the government to enforce the pronounced ban.
“The border is not secure. You find different paramilitary outfits there; you find Immigration, quarantine and so on. You find people they call ‘camp boys’ there, too. They don’t wear uniform, but they are there collecting money from people. Yet, hoodlums come there all the time. And over the years, the problem has become too much for anybody to handle. It is not going to be easy to make importation through the borders stop. Many people are involved. It is their livelihood”, Seyon, a graduate of Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, said.
The man’s position could be seen as pessimistic and alarming but, as they say, he who feels it knows it. Having lived for that long in the area, he should be qualified to relive horrible experiences of residents in such smuggling hotbeds where countless innocent lives have been lost to supremacy tussles between Customs officers and smugglers who use those border towns as everyday routes.
According to sources close to the borders, the business of smuggling is fraught with such great danger that it is almost impossible to embark on it without “protection”. These smugglers, many of them teenagers, as gathered by Saturday Tribune, routinely visit native doctors around the border towns and beyond.
With the ban, however, the terrain is expected to become rougher. The risks would grow exponentially. The result would be greater patronage for the traditional medicine men and their counterparts in other faiths.
Many Nigeria’s land border towns have been enclaves for the nefarious act of smuggling. These hotspots, which cut across Seme in Badagry, Lagos and Idiroko in Ogun State, have seen many Customs officials felled while trying to nip smuggling in the bud.
From Seme to Idiroko, tales of the brazen act of smuggling have remained evergreen, even though the Federal Government has continued to ensure it does not get out of control. Many of the smugglers bring in vehicles due to the high profitability that comes with the venture.
For instance, to bring in a vehicle into the country without the necessary payment of duty from Idiroko or Seme via the bushes, avoiding Customs checkpoints, will fetch a smuggler around N70,000 in profit.
According to an ex-smuggler who declined to have his name in print, “there is usually a long queue of vehicles numbering 20 to 30. Each driver is paid N50,000 to N70,000 to drive the car.”
With Customs officials now getting to know their routes in the thickest bushes and nabbing them in the act, some of these smugglers now confront Customs officials face-to-face with guns in hand.
Many Customs officials have lost their lives fighting smugglers along many of these unidentified routes. Recently, while on a courtesy visit to the Charge-De-Affairs of Nigeria’s embassy in in Cotonou, Benin Republic, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Alli (Rtd), stated that 70 Customs officers lost their lives while battling to intercept smugglers across Nigeria, Benin Republic border towns of Idi Iroko and Seme.
Knowing full well that their lives are now at greater risk, both sides are now reportedly welcoming the relocating fortifiers to the border towns where the action is. Residents of the border towns also said they would be on the look-out for their new neighbours with spiritual powers.
But for some Customs officers already slated to match these daredevil smugglers along the border stations, going for spiritual protection other than God’s won’t do for them.
‘We are killing them too’
Speaking to Saturday Tribune, a Customs officer who declined to have his name in print explained that whatever smugglers do to avoid arrest, they still get caught. “We know they do charms and all but we are ready for them. The fact that reports say smugglers have killed 70 Customs officers does not mean they too don’t get killed. It is only because the Customs is well organised that figures of those killed are known. The number of smugglers that have been killed is far more than the number of Customs officers killed. We cannot just be counting their own numbers since it is of no importance to us”, he stated.
With the limited success recorded in the implementation of the ban of rice through the land borders, as revealed by Saturday Tribune’s findings, coupled with the bloody clashes that have characterised the enforcement, the stakes are definitely much higher now.
Collateral damage
When Saturday Tribune visited Ladipo market, home of vehicle spare parts, to gauge how the ban would affect the spare parts business done through land borders, it was business as usual but a few traders that agreed to speak brought in political and ethnic coloration to the import ban. They alleged that the current administration is constantly looking for ways to cripple a certain ethnic group which survives through trade. However, a trader who preferred to be called Peter said he was not concerned whether they ban car import through the land or sea. “I am a motor parts dealer, not a car dealer. So, work it out by yourself”, he added.
He said that after all, the previous administration was forced to increase import duty on vehicles from 20 per cent to the prohibitive 70 per cent tariff, yet spare parts business did not die.
Complaining officers
For the fact that stakeholders in the import and export business focus attention on Lagos as the hub of importation, there are speculations that when a Customs officer is drafted to any of the ports and borders in Lagos, he or she pops Champaign because there are various ways of making quick money in the mega city.
It is claimed that one of such lucrative ways is by seizing imported goods and auctioning them in such a manner that benefits the auctioneer and the purported buyers. As such, auctioning of seized items by the NCS is believed to enrich a few individuals who have formed themselves into cabals who end up abusing the system.
Saturday Tribune’s findings equally revealed that with the suspension of the old process of inspection, seizure and auction by the current Customs Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali, some Customs officers are unhappy that even though the import ban will increase activities at the land borders, their auction largesse has been halted.
Some retired and serving officers are reportedly currently unhappy that many seized vehicles and, indeed, valuable seized goods litter different formations of the Service in Lagos without any order for action sales as usual. Therefore, even though more are seized, there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to auction them.
For this set of officers, the harsh economic situation would have been salvaged if these exotic vehicles are sold under the old auction system that have swelled bank accounts of officers in the past while importers cry home to empty bank accounts.
When Saturday Tribune visited the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A of the NCS, many exotic vehicles were seen parked at the unit’s base awaiting further directives from Abuja.
However, some retired and serving Customs officers have rued the disciplinary attitude of the current CG, stating that such vehicles should normally have been auctioned off.
A retired Customs officer, who did not know that one of our correspondents is a journalist, told him that since the ban on Customs auction, things have gone from bad to worse for him.
According to him, “the recession is biting harder. Ordinarily, if not that the current CG has stopped Customs auctioning, this is the time to make some cool cash. Many of our prospective clients have been mounting pressure on us to get these deals done but our insiders in the Customs have told us that the current CG has remained unwavering as regards this auction thing. The CG has placed a ban on it and until the ban is lifted, there is nothing they ‘[the insiders] can do. We are even told that subsequent auction is going to be electronic. How the CG intends to go about that is what we don’t know”.
Since the advent of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the subsequent appointment of the current Customs’ CG, more vehicles have been seized at the Lagos border stations in Seme on a daily basis and the import ban can only multiply the number, constitute congestion and increase waste. Many of the seized vehicles and other contraband goods at the various border stations are being brought down to the FOU Zone ‘A’ warehouse for further directive from Abuja.
Smugglers and importers who under-declare items shipped into the country are waiting for any magic that will return their goods to them while Customs officers are also waiting for a slight opportunity to corner the goods through the same old method that has come to be known as auction sale.
Many Nigerians would say that the auctioning process has been riddled with high-level corruption such that that officers of the agency, especially those at the top level, have been found wanting. There is strong evidence that auctioning of seized goods has been stopped in Lagos and it only takes place in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under very stringent conditions.
The new Comptroller-General of Customs, Ali, who introduced the new rule as part of efforts to rid the Service of corruption in line with anti-corruption stance of the Buhari-led administration, has warned that any officer caught engaging in illegal auctioning of seized goods, under-declaring of goods coming into the country through the borders, among others, would be punished.
But what was the situation in the Nigerian Customs Services in recent past as regards the manner in which seized contraband goods were auctioned or disposed of? Saturday Tribune can report that the situation was quite unpleasant as the processes were enmeshed in controversy and alleged fraud with a few fraudulent officers of the Customs and their collaborators regarded as contractors or buyers of such items said to be feeding fat on the country while smiling to the banks.
A source who craved anonymity said he had witnessed the NCS in close quarters, noting that auctioning of seized contraband goods had not taken place in recent times. He said the practice in the past was such that no due process was applied, even to the extent that some of the affected goods, including food items and cars, were dashed out by top officers of the Customs, particularly to their friends and cronies.
“Do they still do auctioning of seized contraband goods because it is a long time I heard about that last? I think they now do that in Abuja. I am not quite sure now. For the exercise, they used to have licensed auctioneers. Notwithstanding, the process is not transparent as it is run by a few top officers of the Customs who do it to their own advantage. I have seen situations where some of the officers dashed out vehicles from those seized contraband goods and gave out food items, especially bags of rice, to individuals. That has been a common occurrence. It is what I have seen several times”, the source said.
He said this violation of the rules guiding sales of such goods could have been responsible for the clampdown by the new Comptroller-General of The NCS. Saturday Tribune learnt also that beneficiaries of the fraudulent auctioning procedures in the Customs include politicians who parade themselves as buyers of such items as a few elements in the government circle, at one time or the other, have come to see the avenue as a way to dispense political patronages.
According to another source, among this set of buyers are influential politicians who paid ridiculous amounts for various seized items.
For instance, he said, you could find a situation where items worth N100 million were sold for N1 million. He recalled that a Mercedes Benz car that could sell then at well over N200,000 in the open market went for just N25,000.
Fraudsters on the prowl
Saturday Tribune recalls an interaction it had with a young man identified simply as Siji, who almost lost about N200,000 to fraudsters who had posed as Customs officials.
Siji revealed that apart from setting up spurious websites, which are usually adorned with different pictures, emblems and logos of the real NCS, the fraudsters would add to their game by telling potential targets that they have warehouses full of items such as vehicles, seized bags of rice and clothing. Lagos is often the decoy state of this group of fraudsters who often cite their “warehouses” as being largely sited in the Lagos metropolis, especially Apapa and the Seme Border area of Badagry. They also hope to deceive people by claiming to have warehouses in Lagos’ neighbouring state of Ogun, especially the Idi Iroko Border area.
Siji’s escapade started when he was reading people’s comments on a certain topic (and was probably going to add his own) on the Facebook platform of a popular sports radio station in Lagos when he noticed one comment that was apparently an advertisement.
The advert, which was posted by a Facebook user, called out to people to buy tokunbo vehicles that had been put up for auction by the NCS.
“It had everything I was looking for. I needed a car and the fellow who posted the offer was offering all brands of cars at very cheap prices. What more, the advertiser stated that he was a Customs officer and that he was representing them to dispose of some vehicles in their bid to clear their warehouse of thousands of vehicles”, Siji narrated.
After calling the telephone number that was made available by the scammers, Siji was informed that the vehicle he was interested in was in a warehouse and that he had to pay N150,000 into an account for it to be cleared.
“I already suspected that something was fishy when a tokunbo Toyota Corrolla with a market value of N1.2 million was offered for a little above N500,000. My suspicion was finally confirmed when the supposed customs agent said I had to pay some amount of money into a personal account for the clearing of the vehicle from a warehouse which he said was at Idi Iroko, in ogun State. I eventually made some investigations of my own and discovered that it was fraud”, he stated.
But if Siji was fortunate not to have fallen for the whims of the fraudsters, same cannot be said of another Lagosian, Simon Nwanife, who lost N120,000 to them.
Sharing his experience with Saturday Tribune, which had got wind of Nwanife’s plight, the young man revealed that he learned an invaluable lesson that “if it sounds too good to be true, then it might as well be a lie.”
“That was just over a year ago. I saw the contact on a social media platform and I decided to give it a try. After paying the sum of N120,000 as ‘clearance charges’ for an SUV car which was offered for just N500,000, I saw that nothing was forthcoming. When it was time for me to take delivery of the car which was supposed to be followed immediately by the payment of the money in full, as agreed over the phone, the fraudsters started giving one excuse or the other. After I discovered that nothing was forthcoming, I went to complain at the NCS office in Lagos, it was there the truth was revealed to me that nothing of such was being offered. It was then the reality dawned on me that I had been swindled. Every attempt made to get the fraudsters proved abortive, and up till now, nothing has happened. I may have lost my money, but I have leant that if anything sounds too good to be true, then it is probably, a lie,” he narrated.
Saturday Tribune visited one of such sites via a link posted on Facebook. Boldly written on the site, which was reached by following the link: https://www.facebook.com/NigeriaCustomsAuctionServiceNcs, were the words: NIGERIA CUSTOMS AUTHORIZED UNREGISTERED AUCTION CARS FOR SALE.
The fake platform also used the image of top officers of NCS, as its background picture. This apparently was in the site’s owners desperate bid to make the site appear genuine.
Clearly displayed on the fake online platform were pictures of different kinds of exquisite vehicles and containers purportedly put up for auction by the NCS. Apart from cars, the scammers also advertise non-existing jobs to members of the public who are asked to pay certain amounts of money into various bank accounts to stand any chance of getting such ‘jobs.’
Once on the website, it was discovered that the site also has links with another website, which according to information gathered, is cloned from a genuine car sales website.
On this cloned site (http://www.nigeriacarmart.com/used_car-24437-Toyota_Highlander_V6.html), Saturday Tribune saw different brands of exquisite vehicles, including a 2008 Toyota Highlander, which was offered for as low as N400,000.
With a view to finding out how they operate, Saturday Tribune’s correspondent subsequently posed as someone who was interested in buying the jeep and thus a call was put across to a phone number made available on the site for this purpose.
The phone had barely rung when a man who identified himself as Mike answered and gave details of how the ‘transaction’ could be made.
After asking if our correspondent had any document necessary for the swift and successful completion of ‘transaction,’ Mike indicated that a sum of N150,000 would have to be paid for ‘clearance’ before the final deal could be sealed. The account number provided turned out to be a private account.
“It is a standard procedure here at the NCS for any person interested in any of the vehicles being auctioned to pay the clearance fees, afterwards the actual sale can be conducted and concluded,” he said. You have to hurry because a lot of people have indicated interest in buying the car and it is whoever pays the clearance fees first that will be considered,” he stated.
Other fraudulent means
A quick research made by Saturday Tribune also suggested that apart from launching their nets on the Facebook platform and other high-traffic generating social media outlets, the fraudsters also look for prospective preys on free-to-use advertising platforms such as OLX.
A similar survey of popular advertising platform, showed similar vehicles to the ones earlier described also offered for sale at very ‘ridiculous’ amounts.
For example, in one instance, an exquisite Honda ‘Evil Spirit’ was put up for sale for as low as N700,000.
Apart from this, another trick also used by the fraudsters is the cloning of social media platforms of popular Nigerians. They may even open new platforms altogether, which they use as an avenue to solicit for funds from unsuspecting members of the public.
About two years ago, an activist and televangelist raised the alarm during one of his church’s Sunday services where he drew attention to a fake Facebook account that had been opened in his name. The pastor wasted no time in asking people to ignore it. The fraudsters had apparently been using the fake Facebook account to solicit financial assistance from unsuspecting members of the public.
and then