To publicly render the state of affairs of Apapa Area Command from January to September 2022, Comptroller Yusuf Malanta Ibrahim, the Customs Area Controller of the Command, held a press briefing on Thursday 27, October 2022 at the Customs House, Apapa.
Reeling out the command’s scorecards, Comptroller Yusuf announced that the command had collected revenue to the tune of N790. 63 billion (Seven hundred and ninety billion, Six hundred and thirty million, Four hundred and six thousand, Nine hundred and eighty naira, Ninety-six kobo).
This is the words of the Controller is a significant improvement of N181.5 billion as against N609 billion collected in the corresponding months of the year 2021, representing a 29.8% increase.
According to Yusuf, the achievement was made possible majorly because of the doggedness and resilience of his officers and men to ensure that all revenue leakages are blocked and sustain the level of compliance by the importers/stakeholders in the clearing value chain.
ANTI-SMUGGLING
Comptroller Yusuf said anti-smuggling activities have been one of the command’s objectives, especially with the activities of some unrepentant traders who are always looking for avenues to undermine the system.
He said the command had fortified its forensic manifest management to monitor and detect fraudulent transactions through audit trials to ensure that illicit trades are tracked before declarations are lodged.
The enforcement unit of the Area command, the Controller said had been reinforced through improved collaboration and sharing of credible intelligence with relevant government agencies to suppress smuggling to their barest minimum.
During the period under review, Comptroller Yusuf said the command recorded 145 seizures (one hundred and forty-five) of various items with a duty paid value (DPV) of N12.49 billion (Twelve billion, four hundred and ninety-six million, six hundred and seventy-two thousand, one hundred and twenty-two naira).
The Command also seized items including unregistered medicaments such as tramadol and codeine, processed/unprocessed wood, used clothing, ladies/ men’s footwear, foreign parboiled rice, tomato paste, vegetable oil and other sundry items that were under import/export prohibition list.
He said the importations were a clear breach of Sections 46 and 47 of the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA CAP C45 LFN 2004.
Yusuf also seized the opportunity of the press briefing to emphasise that Apapa Command is committed to facilitating legitimate trade and ensuring that all forms of smuggling activities through false declaration import/export done in defiance to extant trade guidelines are detected through their layers of control mechanism.
In conclusion, the Controller reiterated his belief in partnering with stakeholders to ensure that items that are on the import/export prohibition list are strictly adhered to, and urged them to embrace the emerging realities of customs examination through the non-intrusive inspection (NII) regime.
The non-intrusive inspection regime is geared towards increasing the volume of cargo inspection, protecting national security, saving cost/clearing time, storing reliable data and images for reference purposes, and reducing human contact in the examination of containerized cargo.
He then congratulated the Controller-General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali on the recent conferment of the national honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on him by President Muhammadu Buhari alongside some members of his management team.
Yusuf also appreciated other government agencies at the Apapa Port for their collaboration and synergy, the officers and men of Apapa Customs Command for their resilience, and compliant stakeholders and the media for their support.