By Bon Peters
The Nigeria Customs Service Area 11 Command Onne Rivers state says it has upped its annual revenue generation target of N618B in 2024 by hitting 89 percent of the Command annual revenue target as its revenue generation as at yesterday November 11,2024 stood at over 550B, even as the Command has recorded another unprecedented feat in its anti – smuggling war, intercepting 21 containers of Illicit drugs, and donkey skin with Duty paid value (DPV) of N46B,invariably putting the total seizures in 10 months to 63 Containers with DPV of over N103B.
Disclosing this, Monday during a press briefing by the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Mohammed Babandede at Onne Port Rivers state, he said, “you will recall exactly two months and seven days ago, precisely 4th of September 2024 the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi mfr was in Onne Port where he showcased series of significant seizures made by the diligent officers of the Area 2 Command. Twelve (12) containers were displayed of illicit goods intercepted through a combination of intelligence gathering, inter-agency collaboration, and meticulous physical examination.”
Continuing, the Onne customs boss, averred that ” the security concern from the series of seizures of contraband goods made through this port led to the declaration of a three month state of emergency where the Command have been granted the authority to scrutinize all suspected containers, regardless of the presence of their owners”, even as he insisted that it was a proactive approach aimed to ensure that no illegal substances could evade detection.
Babandede, noted that in line with the Comptroller General of Customs Policy thrust of consolidation and collaboration and the Command working with sister agencies such as NDLEA, DSS, Quarantine and NAFDAC among others in implementing the state of emergency, his command has made yet another significant seizure of twenty 40foot and one 20foot containers laden with illicit drugs, which according to him posed a severe threat to public health and safety.
He also disclosed of another one 20foot container laden with donkey skin which was also intercepted.
Comptr Babandede gave the breakdown as follows:
a. 2,624,053 bottles of 100ml Cough Syrup Codeine
b. 7,530,000 tablets of 50mg Really Extra Diclofenac
c. 3,500,000 tablets of 5mg Trodol Benzhexol
d. 27,048,900 tablets of 225mg Royal Tapentadol/ Tramadol/Tamolx
e. 7,665,000 tablets of 200ml fake/counterfeit Gonorrhea Antibiotics without NAFDAC number
f. 15,600,000 tablets of fake 4mg chlorphenamine
g. 33,840,00 tablets of 2mg fake Lemotil Loperamine
h. 19,430 pieces of Chilly cutter used for concealment
i 20,238 pieces of Sanitary Fittings Tap/toilet seat used for concealment
j. 26,400 tubes of 30mg fake Permethrin cream
k. 480,000 tablets of fake Stapsiril
l. 112,500 tablets of fake multi mineral supplement
m. 28 drums of diphenhydramine Hydrochloride ip of 25kg each
n. 3,388 pieces of waste connector used for concealment
o. 2,100 pieces of Donkey Skin
The Duty paid Value of the twenty-one containers totals ₦46,399,119,810, while the Duty paid value for the donkey skin is ₦441,000,000″
He went further to posit that “these seizures underscore our unwavering commitment to combating illicit medicine and ensuring the safety of the public.”
“The implementation of this state of emergency by the CGC has proven effective in enhancing our operational capabilities and ensuring that we can act decisively against those who seek to undermine our nation’s security” Babandede insisted.
The Onne customs boss, added that on Anti-smuggling activities, the Command under his stewardship this year, including these seizures on display has now made a total seizure of “63 containers comprising of 844 Riffles, 112,500 pieces of live ammunition, over 6,469,253 bottles of 100ml syrup with codeine, over 56,878,900 tablets of 225mg Royal Tapentadol /Tramadol/Tamolx among others for violations or contraventions of various customs laws and breach of procedures as provided under the revised import prohibition guidelines of the Common External Tariff 2022-2026, as well as Sections 233, 234, 235, 245, 246 of Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023. The Duty Paid Value of the seizures made so far is ₦130,562,660,407.”
On Trade facilitation, he maintained that the Command utilized the World Customs Organization trade facilitation tool, Time Release Study (TRS) to generate maximum revenue which he reiterated that utilizing the (TRS) tool within the past months of this year has been unprecedented.
However, speaking on his achievements on export he said “in the area of Export, you would agree with me that export play a crucial role in any nation’s economy and Nigeria relaying on it promotes economic growth, job creation and provides favourable balance of trade and exchange rate for the naira to the dollar.” Noting that ” in the Command a total of 2,436,408.33 Metric tonnes of goods with a free on board (FOB) value of $826,613,015.87 was processed.”
He further explained that “still within the past months of this year, in the Area of revenue the Command as at this morning has generated a total revenue of Five hundred and Fifty Billion, Four hundred and Thirty-One Million, Five hundred and Fifty-Nine thousand, Five hundred and Ninety-Eight naira, Forty-One kobo (₦550,431,559,598.41) which translate to 89% of the annual target of 618 Billion given to the Command.”
He concluded by thanking everybody present especially the media for the critical role they are playing in the area of sensitization and public enlightenment, in order to achieve willful compliance to trade laws of all imports and export through the Command.
The high point of the event was the handing over of the seized items to the relevant regulatory agencies such as NDLEA, NAFDAC, Quarantine who were on hand to receive them.
Bon Peters
Port Harcourt, Rivers State
