Speaking at a press briefing at the Area 2 Command Onne, Comptroller Mohammed Babandede said, he is delighted to showcase the successes recorded so far, since he assumed duty as the Area Controller of the Command in April this year.
Firstly, upon his arrival to the Command, he received briefings on activities of the Command from the predecessor, the officers and stakeholders.
Then, he embarked on courtesy visits to Bonded Terminals, various sister Agencies and had series of meetings with stakeholders to seek for their cooperation in terms of collaboration, synergy and information sharing, in line with the Controller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi mfr dsm fnipr fniia psc (+) Policy thrust of consolidation and collaboration.
The Command was initially given a target of 494 Billion before it was reviewed two week ago to 618 Billion naira as revenue target for year 2024.
As at the end of May 2024, the Command had generated a total revenue of Two hundred and Forty-Nine Billion, Seven hundred and Fifty-Two Million, Two hundred and Sixty-Eight thousand, Two hundred and Ninety-Eight naira, Twenty-Eight kobo (₦249,752,268,298.28) which translate to 50.4% of the initial target and 40.3% of the current annual target.
When compared to the same period last year, the Command had an increase in revenue generation of One hundred and Fifty-Three billion, Two hundred and Thirteen Million, Seven hundred Thousand, Four hundred and Fifty naira, fifteen Kobo (₦153,213,700,450.15).
It is worthy to note that despite the NLC strike, Democracy day and Sallah holiday, as at this morning the Command has generated Forty-Three billion, Four hundred and Thirty Million, Two hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand, Two hundred and Ten naira ₦43,430,267,210.00 in the month of June 2024.
He said, the command look forward to continuous rise in revenue generation in the coming months and they are optimistic that they will surpass the annual target by the end of the year.
On anti-smuggling activities, the command have on display six (6) seized Containers for violations or contraventions of various customs laws and breach of procedures as provided under the revised import prohibition guidelines of the Common External Tariff 2022-2026, as well as Sections 233, 234, 235, 245, 246 of Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
Also today the command have on display a seized Container of used electronics which has turned to e-waste.
As you are aware of the environmental effect such waste pose to human lives, for the purpose of disposal the command shall be working with the National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in the spirit of inter-agency cooperation, synergy and in line with section 119 & 245 of the NCS Act 2023 to have it disposed
The seized items on display are as follows:
1. Four (4)x20 feet containers laden with bales of clothing, lace and fabrics i.e (96 jumbo size in total) with Duty Paid Value of ₦911,520,011.00.
2. Also seized were 2×40 feet containers laden with 2,625 cartons of cough syrup codeine, 80 cartons of Sildenatil Citrate tablets and 40 cartons of deluxe chilly cutter with Duty Paid Value of ₦2,250,654,000.00 (Based on concealment, false declaration, contravention of revised import prohibition guideline and section 55 Sub-section (1) paragraphs (C) and (I) of NCS Act 2023).
The content of these importations contravenes the provision of the law which prohibits and restricts certain goods for the protection of the public health and safety
In addition the total Duty Paid Value of the 7 seized containers stands at ₦3,188,454,452.
The above seizures were made purely from intelligence gathered and information sharing with sister agency alongside 100% physical examination.
He appreciates the NDLEA for their collaboration and inter-agency cooperation as seizures of this magnitude could not have been possible without their involvement.
Nevertheless, investigation is still ongoing through our Legal/Intelligent Unit to arrest the culprits and bring them to book as soon as possible.
These containers are currently in our Government Warehouse.
The seized containers would be filed for condemnation at the federal High Court, Port Harcourt and shall subsequently be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Addressing the press, Comptroller Mohammed Babandede said the Command shall continue to address it core responsibilities by employing various risk management strategies aimed at collecting revenue, identifying vulnerable leakages, gathering intelligence and facilitating trade.
The command cannot but underscore the necessity and imperativeness of leveraging on synergy, collaboration and intelligence sharing with sister agencies and stakeholders as it enhances our revenue drive and anti-smuggling feats.
These deliberate and concerted efforts will guide us in contributing our quota towards realizing remarkable results in line with Vision and Mission of the Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi mfr and His Management Team.
He recognize the critical role the media plays, especially in the area of sensitization and public enlightenment, in order to achieve willful compliance to trade laws of all imports and export through this axis.
He encourage the media to continue to educate the public while the Command will continue to re-invigorate strategies that will enhance our performance.
In recent times the Command has observed that a lot of journalists have been asking questions related to Bonded Terminals and a large number of our journalist stakeholders are misinformed about the procedures hence the view that Containers moved to the bonded terminals are at the discretion of the Command.
This view is erroneous, hence the need to set the record straight as well as educate our friends the press, stakeholders and the public on Bonded Terminal procedures.
It is important to note that one of the core functions of Customs is trade facilitation which entails a streamlined and simplified technical and legal procedure in clearing items entering or leaving Nigeria.
These Procedures are guides in which all Customs Officers must adhere to.
The final destination for clearing of any consignment into the Country is at the owner’s or importer’s discretion.
This cannot be altered by any customs officer including the Area Controller.
Firstly the importer has to stipulate the Bonded Terminal or port that will be the final destination right at the country of exportation which is always indicated on the Bill of Laden and is transmitted via the shipping companies to the sea port which the vessel will berth.
This negates the erroneous believe that Onne officers connive with operators of Bonded Terminals to transfer containers to Bonded Terminals
Secondly part of the procedure stipulates that these items moving to Bonded Terminals should be on Transire/Bond which is mandatory.
The third procedure is escort from Onne Port to the bonded terminal.
These procedures are strictly adhered by the Onne Customs Command.
Any infraction discovered in the course of physical examination will translate to Demand Notice in order to recover the shortfall in revenue paid or detention in our government warehouse which will be converted to seizure.
It may interest our stakeholders to note that the seizures of codeine where on transire to a Bonded Terminals but due to intelligence gathered they were step-down for physical examination at the mother Port.
Hence there is no hiding place for economic saboteurs in the Command.
The command would not only fish them out, but shall get them arrested with their goods forfeited to the Federal Government.
