Customs Intercept Eight Container Loads Of Imported Machetes, The Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday said that it intercepted 145 kilograms of Colorado, 206,000 pieces of machetes and others with a Duty Paid Value of N1.048 billion.
Colorado was concealed in 2 units of Ridgeline trucks and 2 units of Toyota corolla vehicles while the machetes made in Ghana were concealed in eight containers.
Other seizures include 640 bales of used clothes, 236,500 pieces of used shoes, 62,500 pieces of new lady’s shoes, 1,670,400 pieces of Chloroquine injections (Smg/Sml), 1,814,400 pieces Novalgen injection (500mg/Sml), 48,850 rolls of cigarettes and 23,800 tins of sodium bromate and baking powder.
Showcasing the seizures to newsmen at Tin Can Port, the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller, Adekunle Oloyede said that the machetes were seized due to security issues in the country and there was no End Users Certificate from the office of the National Security Adviser for the importation of such items, adding that import of these products contravenes Sections 46, 47 and 161 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45 LFN 2004.
However, he said the command generated N135.443 billion in the first quarter of 2022, which is an improvement of N22.747 billion only, translating to a 20.18 per cent increase from the first quarter of 2021 collection of N112.695 billion.
In terms of export, he said the total tonnage of goods exported through Tin-Can Island Port for the period under review from January to March 2022 is 71,014.4 Metric Tonnes with a total Free on Board (FOB) value of N56,205 billion.
In the preceding year January to March 2021, he said the total tonnage of goods exported through the Command was 44,502.9 metric tonnes with a total FOB value of N31.371 billion.
Customs Intercept Eight Container Loads Of Imported Machetes
“Comparatively, between January to March 2021 and 2022, the tonnage of goods exported through the Command increased from 44,502.9 metric tonnes to 71,014 representing an increase of 62.67 per cent. The FOB Value in Naira of the above-mentioned tonnage also’ increased from N31.371 billion to N56.205 billion representing an increase of 55.82 per cent within the period under review,” he added.
According to him, commodities exported through the Command include the following, copper ingots, stainless steel ingots, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, rubber, cocoa butter, leather, ginger, frozen shrimps etc.
“Despite our successes, the Command is still facing challenges in the area of treatment of overtime cargoes because of the non-implementation of the extant laws guiding uncleared cargo. Additionally, the lack of Government warehouses in close proximity to the port has led to difficulties in logistics and handling cost,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said Tin-Can Island Port Command’s operations for the first quarter, that is, January — March 2022 significantly aligned with the statutory responsibilities of the Service in the areas of revenue generation, trade facilitation and Enforcement/Anti-Smuggling activities.
“In addition to the above, my mandate also included putting modalities in place to boost export and increase revenue through the use of risk management mechanisms in identifying areas of leakages with a view to blocking them.
“It is also instructive to note that the Command’s Operations drew inspiration from the theme of the International Customs Day, Scaling up Customs digital transformation by embracing a data culture and building a data ecosystem.
“The Command continues to leverage on this theme to harness such facilities that have been made available on the NICIS II platform such as the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), Advance Manifest, Selectivity Engine and data analysis which to a large extent enhanced our Risk Management Processes culminating into Trade Facilitation, expedited customs processes and ensuring the collection of appropriate duties and taxes,” he explained.