Customs Intercepts 206,000 Machetes Imported From Ghana At Lagos Port
Customs Intercepts 206,000 Machetes Imported From Ghana At Lagos Port
Insecurity has continued to grow in Nigeria amidst blame games as the Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Wednesday, said it intercepted 206,000 pieces of brand new machetes imported into the country from Ghana.
Speaking at his maiden press conference, the Customs Area Controller, Tin-Can Island, Lagos, Compt. Adekunle Oloyede said the importation contravened Sections 46, 47 and 161 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45 LFN 2004.
Oloyede, however, disclosed that the machetes were seized due to the high level of insecurity in the country and the lack of an End Users Certificate from the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The Customs boss said clearance was needed from ONSA before such items can be imported into the country in large quantities.
Customs Intercepts 206,000 Machetes Imported From Ghana At Lagos Port
He said, “the command intercepted 145 kilograms of Colorado, 206,000 pieces of machetes with the Duty Paid Value (DPV) worth N1.048 billion.
“The Colorado was concealed in 2 units of Ridgeline trucks and 2 units of Toyota corolla vehicles while the machetes which were 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.”
He stated further that the command generated N135.443 billion in the first quarter of 2022, which is an improvement of on N12.695 billion collected in 2021.
In the preceding year, 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 N31.371billion.
“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 include copper ingots; stainless steel ingots; sesame seeds; cashew nuts; cocoa beans; rubber; cocoa butter; leather; ginger and frozen shrimps.
Meanwhile, he said Tincan Island Port Command’s operations for the first quarter, that is, January — March 2022 significantly aligned with the statutory responsibilities of the Service in the areas of revenue generation, trade facilitation and Enforcement/Anti-smuggling activities.
“In addition to the above, my mandate also included putting modalities in place to boost export and increase revenue through the use of risk management mechanisms in identifying areas of leakages with a view to blocking them.
“It is also instructive to note that the Command’s Operations drew inspiration from the theme of the International Customs Day, Scaling up Customs digital transformation by embracing a data culture and building a data ecosystem,” he stated.
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