Customs Generate N1 Trillion Revenue From Apapa Port In Six Months
. Intercepts N424.1 Million Illicit Items
By Sulaimon Salau
The Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Port Command has declared a revenue of over N1 Trillion in the first six months of 2024.
The Controller of Apapa Port Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, who disclosed this in the half year report, said the revenue indicates about 143% an increase compared to the same period last year when it recorded N421 billion.
Olomu said the command’s efforts at promoting trade facilitation are yielding good results with attendant ease of doing business and prevention of revenue losses.
He added that the command is maintaining closer interactions with sister government agencies and private sector stakeholders, including members of the host communities.
“We are also not leaving anything to chance for economic saboteurs as our non- intrusive inspection (NII) regime is fully in place where scanners are deployed for cargo examination with support of physical examination where and when necessary.
This collection is coming despite a sharp reduction in the volume of trade.
Olomu said that extra measures have been put in place to prevent losses of government revenue.
He said: “Upon taking over as Area Controller of Apapa, I set up a revenue recovery committee of seasoned and dedicated officers with a mandate to carry out more detailed look into areas of leakages, especially in bonded terminals under Apapa Command.
“We are applying a blend of intelligence with community relations for better awareness of our operating environment to achieve greater trade facilitation and fight criminality” he stated.
Olomu said the command made seizures of 11 containers consisting of prohibited items such as expired and unregistered pharmaceuticals, footwears, used clothing, armored cables, frozen poultry products among others.
He estimated the Duty Paid Value of the seized items at N424.1 million, as against 42 seizures with a DPV of N1.4 billion made in the corresponding period in 2023.
According to him, the command also uncovered a large quantity of expired and unregistered pharmaceuticals in (2) 3x40ft containers last week loaded with 7,580 cartons of frozen poultry products unfit for human consumption.
This, he said, is against schedule 3 of the revised import prohibition list of the Common External Tariff (CET). These importations violate section 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
“Let me state that the harmful effects of fake and unregistered pharmaceutical products on citizens are unquantifiable and as a responsible service, we owe Nigerians the duty of preventing them from being exposed to this dangerous importation.
“In light of the above, I want to use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to perpetrators of smuggling, duty evasion and other forms of criminality frowned upon by the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 and other extant laws, that Apapa command is poised to nip illicit importation in the bud.
“Consequently, in line with the CGC zero tolerance for smuggling, I have reformed the command way of treating transires by ensuring more meticulous management of cargoes moving from the mother port to bonded terminals. This has become necessary to prevent a situation where smugglers attempt to perpetuate illegalities in bonded terminals.
“To sustain this tempo, no cargo is allowed to exit from our control without thorough inspection using the scanner.
“We shall not compromise on this as we will keep making seizures, detention and arrests where necessary to protect the national economy and prevent Nigerians from exposure to dangerous or unwholesome products like illicit drugs,” he stated.
Olomu commended Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the entire management team for providing the command with the needed support and leadership in discharging it’s responsibilities.
