Customs Threaten Severe Punishment Over Four Missing Containers
This may not be the best times for the officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) as the service has launched an investigation into the whereabout of four containers that were on transfer from Apapa Port to the Inland Container Depots (ICD) in Kano and Kaduna.
Sources close to the Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone A, Lagos, Assistant Controller General ACG Aminu Dahiru, who is in charge of the investigation, told THISDAY that the NCS would descend heavily on any importer, customs brokerage agent or officer of the service that has any connection with the missing containers.
The source told THISDAY specifically that a total of six containers left the Apapa Port recently on transfer to Kano, four of which were yet to arrive the designated terminal in Kano.
According to the source, checks by the NCS showed that nobody cleared four out of the six containers, while only two were accounted for at the terminal. This was an indication that four of the six containers are missing or have been diverted, under what he described as controversial circumstances.
The source, who did not want his name in print, also disclosed that the zone was trying to unravel the circumstances surrounding some containers that left the Tin Can Island Port, also in Apapa, Lagos, which were later found in a private warehouse instead of the terminal the containers were designated for.
It was further gathered that some containers also got missing about six years ago, precisely in 2012, when the ACG was a Deputy Comptroller serving at the Tin Can Island Customs Command, a development the ACG has described as one, too many.
He warned that in the face of deliberate diversion of containers on transfer, the service would have no other option than to introduce a system whereby the bond paid on containers on transfer by the consignee would be the exact value of the container, as some corrupt people were alleged to be taking the magnanimity of the service for granted.
“There have been several issues on the transfer of containers to terminals in Kano and Kaduna, among several others and in several cases; agents are seen as major culprits in these matters.
“Recently six containers left Apapa Port for a terminal in Kano. On our checks, we discovered that nobody exited the four containers that had already left. When we also contacted the terminal, we discovered that only two arrived to my greatest surprise,” the source said.
He added: “There were also movements of containers from the Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, the said containers did not arrive the terminal they were designated for rather, we traced them to a private warehouse. Definitely we cannot continue like this, I can assure you because this is lawlessness and no society thrive on lawlessness.
“We may be compelled to reintroduce payment on loss of cargo on transfer. For some time now, bond is never close to the value of the consignment and we may likely begin a review of this bond issue, which I believe has become very important and imperative, especially at this time.”
While warning that agents should be careful with what they do with their licences, he however noted that there have been cases where the licences of some agents were blocked for crimes they did not commit, which made him direct that the affected licences be unblocked, warning that the service will not fail to wield the big stick where it has been established that a licence was used in compromising trade processes.
He said the customs leadership had at various time urged importers and their agents to keep their records and processes neat and straight, hinting that the service would re-invigorate its post-clearance audit unit, while warning that the long arm of the law must catch up with those who subverted the system whether now or in the future.
He therefore urged importers and agents to join hands with the service in its quest to enthrone a regime of international best practice in cargo processing at the ports, especially with the deployment of the Nigeria Integrated Customs Information Service NICIS II, which is an advanced version of the Automated System for Customs Data ASYCUDA++, which is also backed by the World Customs Organisation WCO.
Source: THISDAY
