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The Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tin-Can Island Command have intercepted eight containers laden with 206,000 pieces of machetes.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Olakunle Oloyede told newsmen on Wednesday that this was part of the command’s anti-smuggling activities.
He declared that the items would not be released until the importer comes with evidence of an end-user –certificate.
On revenue generation, Oloyede said that the command collected N135.4billion for the first quarter of the year, which was N22, 7billion higher than the N112.6billion collected during the same period in 2021.
On export, he said that the total tonnage of goods that were exported through the port stood at 71,014.4mt with a total FOB value of N56billion as against 44,502.9mt and FOB value of N31.3billion for the same period last year.
The exported commodities handled through the port include copper ingots, stainless steel ingots, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, rubber, cocoa butter leather and frozen shrimps.
As part of its anti-smuggling activities, the Command seized 206,000 pieces of machetes in 8 containers, 640 bales of used clothes, 236,500 pieces of used shoes and 62,500 new ladies shoes.
Other items seized were 145 kg of Colorado (Indian hemp) that were concealed in two units of Ridgeline trucks and two units of Toyota Corolla vehicles., 1,670,400 pieces of Chloroquine injection and 1,814,400 pieces of Novalgen injection, all with duty paid value of N1,048bn.
He, however, disclosed that the Command has been facing some challenges in the handling of overtime cargo, because of the non-implementation of the extant laws guiding uncleared goods.
Part of the challenges, according to Oloyede, is the lack of government warehouses near the seaports, and difficulties in logistics and handling costs.
On the 2022 fiscal policy which came into effect April 1, he disclosed that the implementation would be effective on June 1.
This according to him was because of a grace period of 90 days given by the Finance Ministry.
This means that the controversial new duty rate and excise rates would wait till then for implementation.
“As much as the Service is putting effort to make the necessary adjustments, we are experiencing minor delays in its full implementation because the system is not designed to be retroactive,” he said.
