The Nigeria Customs Service, Area II Command Onne Port, Rivers State Command generated a total sum of Two hundred and Forty-Two Billion, Ninety Million, Six Hundred and Twenty-Nine Thousand, Three Hundred and Nine Naira, twenty-nine kobo (₦242,090,629,309.29) from duty paid on imported goods in 2022.
This was made known in a press release on Monday signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Superintendent of Customs Lomba Benjamin. He said the Command experienced a 28.3% increment from duty paid on imported goods in the year 2022 as against 2021.
“On export, a total of 1,096,646.14 metric tons of goods with a total Free on Board (FOB) value of $1,268,038,648.91 which is equivalent to ₦522,102,233,326.76 @ ₦411.7 per dollar was processed through the Area Command while a total of ₦2,713,884,004.19 was recorded for Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS). This shows a higher revenue compared with the 2021 record of ₦881,011,957.22.” Benjamin also revealed.
In its anti-smuggling drive, a total of Fifty (50) spectaculars seizures were made which include 12,560 cartons of Tomatoes paste, 1,665 cartons of pharmaceutical products, 3,768 bales of Textiles fabrics, 2100 gallons of 25-liter vegetable oil, 4409 cartons of Soapì/Detergent, 1054 cartons of tobacco and cigarette, 10,462 pieces of Used tires and 9 used vehicles all with a duty paid value of One Billion, Seven Hundred and Sixty-One Million, Eight Hundred and Seventy-Nine Thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty-Eight Naira, Nine kobos ₦1,761,879,428.9.
According to Benjamin Lamba, some of the features which contributed to the increase in revenue include robust stakeholder sensitization resulting in more informed/voluntary compliance, Strict enforcement of extant guidelines, increased disposition of officers and men to put national interest above self and strategic deployment of officers to various duty posts.
“The Command also recorded remarkable achievements in the area of trade facilitation, security, and welfare, notable among these are; the commissioning of an ultra-modern mobile scanner, upgrading, and installation of 24 hours CCTV network cameras within and around our government warehouses, the building of security watch towel in the government warehouse environment, upgrading of the Customs Clinic in Ebubu Barracks and installation of modern clinical equipment and renovation of our old Customs Processing Centre (CPC) to 100 sitting capacity modern Conference room”, he added.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Mohammed Auwal also praised the synergy between the Customs Intelligence Unit, CGC Strike Force, Valuation, Customs Police and Post Clearance Audit and sister security agencies which include the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Immigration Service, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), among others.
The CAC said, he looks forward to the unprecedented performance in the year 2023. “While we appreciate the Comptroller–General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd.) and his management team for their consistent encouragement and support, we promise to reassure continued resilience and diligence of officers and men of the Command in carrying out all statutory responsibilities without compromise. We also appreciate our stakeholders including sister agencies, the business community, and other organizations for their support and cooperation with the Command”, he explained.