In line with the current transformation agenda of the new management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) under the leadership of Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the Onne Port Customs Command Rivers State generates over N165 billion naira as at August 2023
Jude Nzennaya (Port Harcourt)
The Rivers State Area 2 Customs Command Onne Port has said that it generated a total of N165,081,930,324.42 in less than eight months. This revelation was made at the Command headquarters Onne last week by the Customs Area Controller (CAC) Comptroller Baba Imam. Under the dynamic, results oriented leadership of Comptroller Imam, the command said it also blocked all the smuggling activities in Onne which necessitated the seizures of a total number of 32 containers with duty paid value of N1,152,742,338.88, among these seizures are; Pharmaceutical/medicaments and fire works with duty paid value of N139.8 million, Vegetable oil with duty paid value of N833.1 million, plastic with duty paid value of N6.6 million and textiles with duty paid value of N3.6 million.
Controller Iman called on all importers and license agents to adhere strictly to the Fiscal policies of the Federal Government as the command will not condone any action or inaction capable of derailing or undermining the fiscal policies of the Federal Government on import and export duties.
These pieces of information are contained in a statement issued by the command’s Public Relation Officer, Superintendent of Customs, Benjamin Lomba and made available to the media.
Accordingly to the CAC, “In the month of June, the command made a seizure of drugs in one of the bonded terminals. The drugs were handed over to the Nigeria drug law enforcement agency (NDLEA) in order to fulfill our obligations as contain in the memorandum of understanding between the Nigeria custom service and NDLEA.
Baba Imam asserted, ” It is important to inform the public that one of the core functions of Customs is trade facilitation which contails a streamlined and simplified technical and legal procedure for items entering or leaving Nigeria”,
He opined, “These procedures are guides in which all custom officers must adhere to. In recent times the area 2 command Onne has observed that stakeholders are misinformed about some of these procedures, especially the procedure for transferring containers to bonded terminals”.
The CAC further said that, “It is necessary to educate the public that the final destinations for any consignment into the country is at the owner’s choice”,
“Hence, the procedure to follow in achieving these cannot be altered by any custom officer including an area controller”,
“Firstly the importer has to stipulate the bonded terminal or port that will be the final destination. The final destination is always indicated in the bill of laden which is transmitted via the shipping companies to the sea port which the vessel will berth”,
Baba Imam maintain that, ” Onne Command on receiving the transmission by procedure is expected to check two things on the bill of laden which are the nature code and the transmit clause to ensure that the consignments are destined for a bonded terminal outside the command, this negates the erroneous believe that consignments land in Onne Port and thereafter the importer decides to move them to a Bonded terminal”.
However, the CAC Onne head Command reaffirmed that, “Once again, Custom officers cannot determine the final destination of any consignment into the country”,
“Secondly, part of the procedures stipulated that this items moving to bounded terminals should have a bond which is one of the requirements the Onne command is to ensure is fulfilled before the third procedure of escort from Onne Port to the bonded terminals”,
“The moment all these requirements are met no officer, not even the area controller can stop the consignment from leaving the Port, additionally, by procedure this consignment cannot be examined in the command before their departure no matter their contents the best the command can do is to relay any intelligence about the consignment to the customs formations where it is Destined to arrive”
The CAC said, “It is worthy to note that it is only the custom officers at the final destination that are allowed by procedure to examine the consignment”.
Pointing out that for consignment destined for a bonded terminal under the command jurisdiction by procedure they are subjected to payment of Duty via the designated banks before proceeding to the bounded terminal.
“The public and our stakeholders should note that this procedures are strictly observed by the Onne Customs Command hence should have a rethink before assuming fiction imaginations about operations in Onne”,
Baba Imam posited, “The Command recently got a directive from Head quarters in Abuja to ensure that all consignments leaving the Port are scanned. This instruction is been carried out diligently”
“All stakeholders involved in movement of containers via transit to other destination outside the Port can testify to the fact that their containers are scanned after fulfilling the necessary procedures before leaving the Port”, he concluded.
