Acting Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR

Acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR has assured that the primary objectives of the service under his watch are to curb smuggling, boost revenue generation by blocking leakages, ensure the security of the nation, and promote legitimate trade and businesses.

Speaking in Lagos last week when he showcased a total of 20 units of 20-foot containers laded with expired tomato concentrate seized by Port and Terminal Multi-Services Limited PTML, he said the seizure was a milestone in the history of the command and is in line with the core objectives of the service under his watch in curbing smuggling, safeguarding national revenue and ensuring the security of the country.

The CG said: “This seizure, which was processed through three separate single good declarations SGDs forms, is a testament to our unwavering commitment to maximally suppress smuggling and our determination to safeguard the lives of Nigerian citizens by intercepting dangerous imports such as these.

” The actions taken by those involved in this unlawful activity contravene the provisions of sections 228(1) and (2), 55 (c and d), and 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023. Additionally, it directly violates Schedule 4, item 14 of the Common External Tariff (CET) 2022-2026.

” I would like to take this opportunity to send a stern warning to importers and their agents, urging them to steer clear of unlawful practices such as false declarations aimed at evading duties or smuggling prohibited goods into our country.

” The audacious attempt to introduce such a large quantity of expired food products into the Nigerian market is heartless and inexcusable. I want to assure you that our officers and personnel will always remain vigilant, diligently scrutinizing all import and export consignments passing through our seaports, airports, border stations, dry ports, and terminals nationwide.

” It is essential to reiterate that compliant automobile importers and their agents can now expect streamlined clearance processes, with consignments being cleared within three hours when importations adhere to our regulations, involve honest declarations, and prompt payment of customs duties.”

 In closing, I implore all importers and their agents to act patriotically by making honest declarations. The acting CGC, who enjoined importers and their agents to remember that compliance brings numerous benefits, including building a reputation of integrity, saving time and money by avoiding demand notices and penalties, and staying out of troubles, also warned that the service under his watch would not spare non-compliant operators in ensuring that they are imprisoned, lose their licenses or get them blacklisted.

Recall that some vigilant officers of the PTML command of the service had on August 8, 2023, during a routine examination, uncovered a cache of expired tomato concentrate, deemed unsafe for human consumption.

The CGC had described the boldness of the smugglers to attempt introducing this hazardous product into the Nigerian market as both shocking and disheartening. This is given the quantity of the hazardous product and the likely effect it would have had on unsuspecting members of the public

It was further gathered that the expired tomato concentrates were concealed within 20 containers, each falsely declared as containing almond shells. They were said to have been imported by a company identified as Nikecristy Investment Limited.

Investigations further showed that each of the 20 containers was laden with 80 drums of the hazardous product, which were meticulously arranged, bringing to a total of 1,600 drums. The total duty paid value DPV of the illicit import was put at N116.2million.