Customs Seizes N5.53bn Contraband in 56 Containers at Onne Port
The Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted 56 containers containing contraband goods with a combined duty-paid value of N5.53bn at the Port Harcourt Area II Command, Onne, Rivers State.
The seized consignments comprised vegetable oil, used clothing and foreign tomato paste, which Customs officials said were imported through the Onne Port under false declarations indicating machinery and spare parts.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Tuesday during a briefing at the command, where he also inspected the seized consignments.
Adeniyi said preliminary findings showed that the consignments were imported through free trade zones under government concessions designed to promote manufacturing, investment and export activities.
He, however, raised concerns over the alleged abuse of the concessions by some operators, who he said were exploiting the incentives to import restricted goods for sale in the domestic market.
According to him, the Federal Government established special economic and free trade zones to encourage local production and exports, granting operators incentives such as duty-free importation of plants, raw materials and machinery.
He said intelligence and risk-based analysis conducted by the NCS revealed growing attempts by some importers to exploit the concessions.
“The Command in Onne has been undertaking a review of operations of some goods that are imported through Onne Port but are destined for some free trade zones and other economic zones in the country.
“What we have discovered through our intelligence and risk-based analysis of the profiles of these importers is that so many of them have started to abuse the free zone concessions,” Adeniyi said.
He disclosed that 45 containers of Delicious Pur vegetable oil were intercepted, with each container containing 1,050 25-litre jerry cans. The consignments had a combined duty-paid value of N4.2525bn.
Adeniyi said the containers were declared as machinery and spare parts but were found to contain vegetable oil during physical examination.
He said the circumstances surrounding the importation suggested that the consignments were not intended for manufacturing activities within the free trade zones but for distribution in the local market.
Read Also:
The Customs chief further disclosed that nine 40-foot containers containing used clothing, with a duty-paid value of N1.04558bn, were also seized.
Two additional 20-foot containers containing foreign tomato paste were intercepted, with a duty-paid value of N232m.
Adeniyi said the vegetable oil and used clothing were seized for allegedly violating Sections 55 and 233 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.
He added that the owners of the seized consignments would face prosecution after the conclusion of investigations.
The Customs CG said the seizures were part of measures to protect the economy, public health and domestic industries, as well as ensure compliance with import regulations.
He warned that the importation of restricted goods and the use of false declarations could deprive the government of legitimate revenue while exposing local manufacturers, farmers and other producers to unfair competition.
Adeniyi commended officers and men of the Port Harcourt Area II Command for their vigilance and urged them to sustain intelligence-led operations against smuggling and other customs-related offences.
Meanwhile, the Customs CG inaugurated a reconstructed health centre in Ebubu, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Ebubu Health Centre was remodelled by the Port Harcourt Area II Command under the NCS Corporate Social Responsibility programme.
Adeniyi commended the Area II Controller, Aliyu Alkali, for implementing the directive to undertake CSR interventions in communities within the command’s operational area.
He said the project was consistent with the Customs Care policy, under which the NCS had implemented interventions in healthcare, education and other sectors across the country.
The Customs boss urged the Ebubu community to take ownership of the facility and protect it from vandalism.
Alkali said the health centre had been abandoned before the intervention and that some of its equipment and facilities had allegedly been looted.
He said the renovation and upgrading of the centre would improve access to healthcare for residents and reaffirm the command’s commitment to communities within its area of operation.
The Director of Medical Services, Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr Tonye Lawson-Jack, thanked the NCS for the intervention and assured residents that the board had adequate manpower to provide healthcare services at the facility.
By PRNigeria
