The Onne Port Big Catch: How We Blended Local Collaboration With Foreign Partnership to Seize Huge Arms – Adeniyi
Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR has been speaking on the mode of seizure of a large cache of arms and ammunitions, as well as other contraband items at the Port Harcourt Area II Command, Onne Ports, in River State, saying the seizure was made possible through a robust risk management system and collaborations with the intelligence communities both locally and internationally.
The CG had while briefing newsmen in Onne, Monday July 1, 2024, disclosed that the arms cache comprising 844 rifles and 112,500 rounds of live ammunition with duty paid value DPV of N4.2billion was concealed in a 40-foot container imported from Turkey.
The arms and ammunitions were concealed among doors, furniture, plumbing fittings, and leather bags laden in a 40-foot container.
He however warned those still planning such illegal importation across the nation’s seaports and land borders to think twice as operatives of the service are combat- ready to detect and impound same and run them out of business in no distant time.
“These seizures result from our robust Risk Management System and collaboration with intelligence communities both locally and internationally. The container bearing the arms and ammunition will be handed over to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons for further investigation and prosecution. Licenses and permits of warehouses and terminals involved have been suspended, and officers found complicit will face severe sanctions.
“These seizures also serve as a strong warning to others contemplating similar misadventures. We will run you out of business; the NCS continues to demonstrate its dedication to protecting Nigeria’s borders and ensuring the security of its citizens”, he warned sternly.
Other seized items include 1,050,000 bottles of CSC Cough Syrup with Codeine, 3,500,000 tablets of Trodol Benzhexol, and 720 bales of used clothes with a duty-paid value DPV of ₦13.9billion. They were loaded in eight units of 40-foot containers designated for a bonded terminal in Onne.
While giving a vivid illustration of how the items were intercepted and seized, the CG said: “Acting on credible intelligence on June 21, 2024, Customs officers, while inspecting a suspicious 1×40-foot container from Turkey, found it to contain 844 rifles and 112,500 rounds of live ammunition. These items were concealed among doors, furniture, plumbing fittings, and leather bags, with a total duty-paid value of ₦4,171,710,000.00.
“Also on June 29, 2024, Customs officers intercepted eight 40-foot containers destined for a bonded warehouse from Onne Port, containing 1,050,000 bottles of CSC Cough Syrup with Codeine, 3,500,000 tablets of Trodol Benzhexol, and 720 bales of used clothes with the duty-paid value of ₦13,915,710,000.00.
The Comptroller General commended the Customs Area Controller Onne Port, Comptroller Mohammed Babandede, and his team for their professionalism. He also acknowledged the crucial support from local and international partners as well as other government agencies.
The Nigeria Customs Service has recorded a total revenue collection
of N4.49 trillion between June 2023 and May 2024, a remarkable 74% growth when compared to the N2.58 trillion collected during the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, made this known during a press briefing at the Service Headquarters in Abuja on 19 June 2024 to commemorate his first anniversary in office.
According to him, this achievement was underpinned by a sustained increase of 70.13% in average monthly revenue collection compared to the previous year. “NCS recorded an average monthly revenue collection of N 343 billion, compared to the N202 billion monthly average”.
“Notably, there was a substantial 122.35% rise in revenue collection during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in the previous year”, the CGC stated.
He attributed the gains to various strategic initiatives, including N15 billion recovery by the Revenue Review PerformanceRecovery exercise,N2.79 billion Recovered from the 90-day window for the regularisation of the documents of uncustomed vehicles, N1.5 billion Recovered from the decongestion of 1,705 overtime containers and 981 vehicles from the port and the deployment of officers to sensitive posts based on merit and capacity.
“It is also worthy to note that on 13 June 2024, NCS recordeda daily All-Time-High of N 58.5billion in revenue collection”, Adeniyi noted.
Speaking on Trade Facilitation, CGC Adeniyi stated that the NCS has made significant achievements, which include the decongestion of ports and the reopening of previously inaccessible access roads.
“Particularly noteworthy is the NCS’s recent ranking under the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which aims to streamline business operations in Nigeria through
reforms and policies”. He said.
“I am delighted to announce that the NCS moved up 33 places, now tied at the top with 4 other MDAs out of the 36 MDAs assessed, with a percentage score of 100%, marking an 81.5% increase. This
remarkable improvement is directly attributed to the trade facilitation measures implemented within the past year, Adeniyi emphasised.
The Customs Boss Acknowledged that the designation of a dedicated terminal for exports has yielded significant gains, facilitating the processing of export goods through the Lilypond command.
On his one year in office, the CGC stated that his appointment came during the nascent stage of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He noted that the Service aligned its responsibilities with Mr President’s Policy Advisory Documents. (PAD).
In line with the mandate of the service, CGC Adeniyi highlighted some of the policy measures implemented by NCS in the past year, including the transition from the Customs and Excise Management Act 2004 to the newly signed Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.
The Comptroller-General of Customs outlined that the NCS Act has given rise to the recent transition from the Fast Track 2.0 to the Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) program, where participants benefit from expedited Customs clearance processes, the Advance Ruling system, which aligns NCS operations with global best practices, the introduction of Time Release Study(TRS) to identify bottlenecks in the clearance process and ensure that adequate measures are taken.
