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By Omoniyi Salaudeen
A coalition of Civil Society Networks has called on the Federal Government to look into the cases of vehicles worth over N50 billion abandoned in the custody of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) by smugglers at seaports and other locations.
According to the group, the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Hameed Ali, had some time ago introduced e-auction platform to dispose of the seized vehicles many of which were impounded at the Federal Operation Units (FOU) in Lagos, Owerri, Benin, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kano, but the initiative recorded little progress due to the hitches experienced with the digital technology.
Noting with concern the difficulties successful bidders had been having in making payment, it quoted the Customs authorities as saying that the e-auction process had been stalled due to the banks’ e-wallet challenges.
The group further lamented the rapid depreciation in the value of some of the seized vehicles at Seme Customs, FOU Zone A, Ikeja, Idoroko Command, and TinCan Island Command in Lagos as a result of the wear-and-tear arising from the reckless abandon by the NCS.
While calling on the Federal Government and other relevant authorities to intervene in the auctioning process, the group expressed worries that some unscrupulous people had been taking advantage of the situation to exploit unsuspecting individuals on the social media by posing as officers coordinating the auctioning.
