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By Steve Agbota
The Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday said it intercepted 145 kilograms of Colorado (Indian hemp), 206,000 pieces of machetes without End User Certificate and other prohibited items with the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.048 billion.
The Colorado was concealed in two units of Ridgeline trucks and two units of Toyota corolla vehicles while the machetes made in Ghana were concealed in eight containers.
Other seizures include 640 bales of used clothes, 236,500 pieces of used shoes, 62,500 pieces of new lady’s shoes, 1,670,400 pieces of Chloroquine injections (Smg/Sml), 1,814,400 pieces Novalgen injection (500mg/Sml), 48,850 rolls of cigarettes and 23,800 tins of sodium bromate and baking powder.
Showcasing the seizures to newsmen at Tin Can Port, the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Adekunle Oloyede, said that the machetes were seized due to security issues in the country and there was no End User Certificate from the office of National Security Adviser for the importation of the items, adding that import of these products contravenes Sections 46, 47 and 161 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45 LFN 2004.
However, he said the command generated N135. 443 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2022, which is an improvement of N22.747 billion only, translating to 20.18 per cent increase from the first quarter 2021 collection of N112.695 billion.
In terms of export, he said the total tonnage of goods exported through Tin Can Island Port for January to March 2022 is 71,014.4 metric tonnes with a total Free on Board (FoB) value of N56.205 billion.
In the preceding period of January to March 2021, he said the total tonnage of goods exported through the Command was 44,502.9 metric tonnes with a total FoB value of N31.371 billion.
“Comparatively, between January to March 2021 and 2022, the tonnage of goods exported through the Command increased from 44,502.9 metric tonnes to 71,014 representing an increase of 62.67 per cent. The FOB value in Naira of the above mentioned tonnage also’ increased from N31.371 billion to N56.205 billion representing an increase of 55.82 per cent within the period under review,” he added.
According to him, commodities exported through the Command includes the following, copper
ingots, stainless steel ingots, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, rubber, cocoa butter, leather, ginger, frozen shrimps etc.
“Despite our successes, the Command is still facing challenges in the area of treatment of overtime cargo because of the non-implementation of the extant laws guiding uncleared cargo.
