By Kenneth Jukpor
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has collected N264,536,201,293 in the first quarter of 2022 at Apapa seaport.
The Command’s Area Controller, Comptroller Yusuf Malanta revealed this in a press briefing earlier today, noting that the 2022 figure represents 65% increase of N104 billion as against N159 billion collected in the corresponding months of 2021.
According to Malanta, this feat was made possible by officers’ creativity and leveraging on the service IT platform to ensure all revenue leakages have been mitigated, as well as sustaining the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearance value chain.
Speaking on anti-smuggling activities, the Customs boss noted that the Command’s enforcement unit has been strengthened through strict monitoring, enhanced collaboration and sharing of credible intelligence with relevant government agencies to suppress smuggling activities to its barest minimum.
“The command recorded 46 seizures of various items with a duty paid value of N1,142,876,606.00 as against twenty-eight (28) seizures made in the corresponding months of the year 2021. These seizures include unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine syrup, unprocessed wood, used clothing, footwear, foreign parboiled rice and other sundry items that falls under prohibition list,” he said.
Malanta stated that these importations are in clear contravention of sections 46 and 47 of Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA CAP C45 LFN 2004.
He, however, reiterated that Apapa Command is always ready to assist in facilitating legitimate trade and ensuring 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.
Meanwhile, in line with the federal government efforts to diversify the economy through non-oil export, the command recorded exportation of agricultural goods, mineral resources, steel, etc.
On exports, during the first quarter of 2022 goods worth N34,072,869,799 with Free On Board (FOB) value of $87.992,356.10 million were exported as against N30.2 billion, which is equivalent to FOB value of $82.1 million between the months of Jan-Mar 2021.
