The Nigerian Customs Service, Port Harcourt, Area II Command, has
seized three containers containing hundreds of bags of foreign rice,
which were falsely declared by an importer.
The Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Abubakar Bashir,
explained that the NCS was able to discover the goods as a result of its
resolve to embark on a 100 percent physical examination of every
container coming into the country through its command.
Displaying seized containers to journalists, Bashir recalled that
the command under his watch had made a total of 23 seizures with a duty
paid value of N446.3 million and N23.6 million on three containers
carrying the imported rice.
Bashir disclosed that the erring importer had declared that the
containers were loaded with sewing machines, only for the security
outfit to search aND discover that they (containers) were loaded with
hundreds of bags of foreign rice.
He warned importers, who were in the habit of false declaration of
goods to desist from such crime, adding that with his Command’s new
strategy, no container would pass without a thorough check.
Bashir said, “By insisting on 100 percent examination of cargo,
we have also forestalled the importation of unwholesome and prohibited
goods into the country.
“Our stand on this issue is particularly reassuring in light of
current events in the country, which led to the seizure of illegally
imported arms. Today, no container exits the port gate without 100
percent physical examination.”
On revenue generation, he stated that despite the current economic
situation in the country, the Port Harcourt II Area Command of the
Nigeria Customs Service had generated over N71.8 billion as revenue from
January to September 2017.
He said that the amount was recorded from oil and gas importation
and exportation, even as he observed a 52 percent drop in oil and gas
imports through the command.
Bashir also noted that there had been a 45 percent increase in
revenue generated from other sources, adding that the command had from
January to September, 2017, recorded a great feat in its fight against
smuggling.
He pointed out that the command had generated about 63.85 percent
of its annual budget, promising that the command will exceed its target
of N112.5billion at the end of the year.
According to Bashir, “The revenue collected by the command from
first to the third quarter of the year 2017 stood at N71,826,387,566.98
billion, which is N1,430,239,950.49 billion higher than the total
revenue collected in the same period of the year 2016.
“Between January and September, this year, the command recorded
export activities to the tune of $96.520million
(N29,454,088,974.00billion). We also recorded an increase in Nigeria
Export Supervisory Scheme fees collected being N150.308 million. These
figures represents a 200 percent increase in export activities as at the
third quarter of 2017.”
The Customs Comptroller of Port Harcourt Area II decried the lack
of functional scanning machines to carry out the job of detecting
contraband goods.