The Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) Tincan Island Port Command has announced the collection of N747,079,233,259.91 as revenue for the first half of 2025.
The Command has also in strong terms condemned the activities of bonded terminal operators within its domain.
While in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Frank Onyeka disclosed that the revenue figure indicated a remarkable surplus of N171,719,786,247.68 when compared to the first half of 2024, which stood at N575,359,447,011.23;
he described bonded terminals a key source of customs revenue leakage at a parley with the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers in Lagos on Thursday. According to him, the command had cautioned some of them and had even stopped feeding the terminals with containers.
MMS Plus reports that there are usually incidence of interception and diversion of cargoes on transfer to bonded terminals, leading to duty evasion and theft of cargo.
It has been alleged also that most importers of illicit cargo are either operators of the terminals or prefer to route their consignments to these off-dock terminals for ulterior motives.
Meanwhile, according to him, the half year revenue feat represents a growth of approximately 29.85% increase and has achieved a 98.03% of the expected collection for the first half of the year 2025.
In the statement, Compt. Onyeka noted that in January 2025, the Command generated the sum of N116,412,735,766.23 as against N88,430,128,122.76.
In the same period of 2024, while in the month of February, the Command recorded a total of N103,254,292,293,823.23, above that of the previous year which stood at N100,253,187,122.76.
According to him, the months of March to May 2025 witnessed an increase in its revenue with the collections of N128,266,643,816.08,N145,020,168,704.83, N128,446,323,224.79 respectively.
He further explained that these figures
also showed an increase when compared to the Command’s expected monthly revenue target of N127, 055,833,289.88 and those of March to May 2024 which stood at N115,108,066,256.20, N95,703,614,360.55, N92,671,603,418.04 respectively.
The month of June 2025 recorded a total of N125, 679,068,853.75, surpassing the figure recorded in corresponding period of the previous year which stood at N83, 192,847,758.97.
He also informed that in the first half of the year, the Command received 3,450 Single Goods Declarations (SGDs) under the new B’ Odogwu clearance system and has successful processed and exited 2,749 entries.
He noted that since the innovation and its successful implementation, the Command had organized several online and physical trainings and workshops to provide firsthand knowledge to all stakeholders on the operations of the system.
Comptroller Onyeka further disclosed that a total of 282 vessels reported at the Command in the first quarter of the year, with import tonnage comprised bulk cargoes such as bulk wheat, , bulk malt, lab chemical, drilling rods, bulk sugar, aluminum nitride, general cargoes among others.
In the area of anti-smuggling activities, the Area Controller pointed out that the Command recorded significant progress in its drive towards safe-guarding the nation and her citizens from the threat of unwholesome items through the arrest and subsequent handover of illicit drugs, Arms and Ammunition.
According to his account, the Command confiscated and successfully handed over illicit drugs worth over N8, 053,125,000.00 to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
This feat was achieved through the timely interception of 2 x 20ft containers of which were separately found to contain 128 packets of Cannabis Indica, 97 packets of crystal methamphetamial, and 1,735 packet of Cannabis Indica with a combine total weight of over 1,000 kilogram.
He further mentioned that with thorough physical and non-Intrusive inspection examinations, the Command uncovered Arms and Ammunition and other military equipment concealed in a 1x40ft container which was conveying Four used vehicles.
The items recovered includes the following:
Rugger P345 Pistol Reg. No. 664 – 75425, 23 GEN 4 Austria Pistol Reg. No. TO 6252, 100 Rounds of live Ammunition of 9mm , 34 Rounds of blank Ammunition of 9mm, 4 Rounds of Blank Ammunition, 5 empty Magazines, 2 Handcuffs, One small iron touch light.
To ensure proper hardly of the items, the Customs Area Controller handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS), Tincan Island Port Command, alongside the consignee and the declarant.
According to Comptroller Onyeka, these handover exercises underscore the commitment of the Command to uphold and promote National Security by safeguarding National Borders against the influx of hard drugs and proliferation of small arms and light weapons, as well as promoting inter-agencies collaboration with all security agencies operating in the port
