Half Year: Apapa Customs Command records landmark N1.02trn revenue

 

Maureen Aguta

 

The Apapa Port Command of Nigeria Customs Service has recorded a landmark N1.023 trillion revenue collected between January and June 2024.

The figure represents a 143 per cent over N421.38 billion collected by the command within the same period of 2023.

Briefing newsmen at the Command’s headquarters in Apapa today (Monday), in company of Apapa divisional heads of sister security agencies, Customs Area Controller (CAC) Apapa Port Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu expressed delight that the Service’s efforts at promoting and facilitating trade were yielding good results.

He said: “These efforts are mainly targeted at prevention of revenue losses, improving ease of doing business and stakeholders engagements. As a results of these efforts, we are glad to announce that in the command’s half-year report, covering January to June 2024, we generated N1,023,663,822, representing 143 per cent over N421, 382,188,386 recorded in same period of 2023.

“Whereas this collection is coming despite a sharp reduction in the volume of trade, it is necessary to note that extra measures have been put in place to prevent losses of government revenue.

“Upon taking over as Area Controller of Apapa, I set up a revenue recovery committee comprising 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.”

Speaking on the anti smuggling efforts of the command, Comptroller Olomu said within the six months, the command made seizure of eleven containers comprising of prohibited items such as expired and unregistered pharmaceuticals, footwears, used clothing, armored cables, frozen poultn/ products etc., with a Duty Paid Value of N424,105,975 as against 42 seizures with a DPV of NI.4 billion made in the corresponding period in 2023.

He disclosed that the command also last week uncovered a large quantity of expired and unregistered pharmaceuticals in 3x40ft container numbers TCKU 6928184, MRKU 4422733, MRSU 5550243, and another 3x40ft container nos. MNBU 3934925, MEDU 9107559 and MEDU 9752980 loaded with seven thousand five hundred and eighty (7,580) cartons of frozen poultry products unfit for human consumption, which is against schedule 3 of the revised import prohibition list of the Common External Tariff (CET). The importations, according to him 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,” Comptroller Olomu said.

On trade facilitation, the Comptroller who resumed at the command on May 6, 2024, stated that “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.

“I have a team of dedicated officers charged with the responsibility of addressing all complaints or disputes within record time before escalation to my office for prompt action.

He applauded the motivation and purposeful leadership of the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, while also thanking his men and officers for their hard work and commitment.

The CAC also attributed the command successes to the support from sister agencies in the port, namely the NAFDAC, NDLEA, DSS, SON and the Police.