By Alex Akao.
Tincan Island Port Command of the Customs Service has seized fourteen containers of contrabands goods, eight of which were loaded with machetes. The seizures which arose from heightening fears over insecurity in the country also included other contrabands such as drugs shoes, clothing and other items.
Breakdown of the illicit imports indicates the eight containers of machetes purportedly came from Ghana, one container each of used tires, chloroquine and, novalgen injection, cigarettes, sodium bromate, baking powder, shoes and clothes.
The Area Commander, Mr. Adewale Oloyede said that after profiling they discovered that the bill of laden of some of the containers were changed while some did wrong declaration
He said that the duty paid value of the seized goods amounts to One point forty-eight billion Naira.
On revenue generation, Mr. Oloyede said that the Command generated One hundred and thirty-five point four billion Naira in the first quarter of this year.
He said that exports that passed through in the first quarter stood at Seventy-one thousand and fourteen metric tonnes worth fifty-six point two million Naira.
The commodity exported through the Command includes Copper, Ingots, stainless steal ingots, sesame seeds, cashew nuts and frozen shrimps.
Despite these achievements, Mr. Oloyede said that the Command was still faced with the challenge of overtime cargoes due to non implementation of the laws guiding uncleared cargo.
Also, he observed that the lack of government warehouses close to the port worsened the challenge of logistics and handling costs.
He said that though the Ministry of Finance has published the 2022 fiscal policy with effect from April One, a grace of ninety days has been approved for implementation of the new duty and excise rates.
He said that the Customs Service has been trying to make the necessary adjustments but is experiencing minor delays because the system is not designed to be retroactive.
