Enhanced automation and strict implementation of import and export guidelines have pushed up the revenue generated by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in the first 11 months, January to November 2018, to N1.1 trillion, compared with N1.037 trillion recorded same period in 2017.
Joseph Attah, national public relations officer of Customs, who disclosed this to newsmen on Monday, also attributed the performance to robust stakeholders’ engagement and effective suppression of smuggling to the barest minimum.
Attah said Customs also recorded 4,010 seizures with duty paid value of over N40 billion including the recently announced seizures of 59 by 40 feet containers of tradmadol and other controlled drugs intercepted in Tin-Can, Apapa and Onne ports. He said that the service also impounded a total of 234,094 bags of 50kg of parboiled rice.
“Customs introduced the e-auction platform in July 2017 and has so far uploaded 806 units of vehicles out of which 753 winners have emerged and a total of N346,146,349 generated through the electronic auction platform.
“In terms of seized rice, a total of 424,391 bags of 50kg rice worth N4,047,615,000.00 and other perishable goods have been distributed to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Edo States,” Attah said.
According to Attah, suppression of smuggling remains the most challenging aspect of Customs operations as anti-smuggling operations are seen differently by different people.
“Regrettably, many still see smuggling as a business not crime. Smuggling is not just crime but the mother of many crime and criminalities because violent crimes are perpetrated with dangerous items such as arm and drugs smuggled into the country,” he said.
He listed the challenges facing Customs operations to include porous borders; non-cooperative attitude of some border dwellers; willingness of some Nigerians to help smugglers mob Customs operatives and lack of proper implementation of the ECOWAS protocol on transit by neighbouring countries.
