By Steve Agbota
The Apapa command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Thursday, said it has generated over N790 billion from importers between January to September, 2022.
Speaking to journalists, the Customs Area Controller, Apapa command, Compt. Yusuf Malanta, said the command improved by 29.8 percent from N609billion generated in 2021, adding that the command also intercepted contraband such as codeine, tramadol, unprocessed woods worth N12.4billion in the year under review.
“In the period under review, the command has collected revenue to the tune of N790.6billion. This showed an exponential improvement of N181.5 billion as against N609 billion naira collected in the corresponding months of the year 2021.
“The 2022 collection represents 29.8 per cent increment. This remarkable achievement was made possible because of our officers’ tireless commitment to ensure that all revenue leakages are being mitigated, as well as, sustaining the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearance value chain,” he said.
Speaking on the anti-smuggling drive of the command, Yusuf said anti-smuggling activities has been one of the command’s focal points, especially with the activities of some unrepentant traders who are always looking for avenues to undermine the Service’s system.
“The command has fortified its forensic manifest management to monitor and detect fraudulent transaction through audit trial to ensure that illicit trade are being tracked before the declarations are lodged.
“Furthermore, the enforcement unit has been reinforced through improved collaboration and sharing of credible intelligence with relevant government agencies to suppress smuggling activities to its barest minimum,” he added.
According to him, for the period under review, the command recorded 145 seizures of various items with a duty paid value (DPV) of N12.4 billion.
However, he warned importers to be compliant, saying non compliant traders will continue to face the full wrath of the law.
“These seized items include unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine, processed, unprocessed wood, used clothing, ladies, men’s footwear, foreign parboiled rice, tomato paste, vegetable oil and other sundry items that falls under import, export prohibition list.“Apapa Command is continuously ready to assist in facilitating legitimate trade and ensure that all forms of smuggling activities through false declaration on import/export done in defiance to extant trade guidelines will be detected through our layers of control mechanism.